September 9, 2023
Read in Browser [[link removed]]
POWERED BY
Happy Saturday! As we gear up for Week 2 of college football — the sport driving the recent round of conference realignment — it might be easy to forget about all the other sports that have gotten lost in the shuffle.
FOS spoke with athletes, advocates, and administrators about realignment’s biggest issue: increased travel. While some administrators have said the issue has been blown out of proportion, athletes and coaches have raised major concerns. One advocate even believes Congress should step in.
— Amanda Christovich [[link removed]]
The Biggest Problem With The Conference Realignment Craze [[link removed]]
Stanford Athletics
When UCLA track and field athlete Shawn Toney found out the Bruins would be joining the Big Ten, he heard the same justifications as everyone else.
“Yeah, travel’s going to be a pain in the ass,” Toney was told. “It’s money. We’re getting money. Obviously it’s mostly because of the football program. But money for the football program is money for the athletic department — which trickles down to us.”
But many Olympic sports athletes, coaches, and advocates believe the tradeoff between revenue and travel won’t be worth it.
NIL has been touted as the potential death knell to college sports as we know them, but the conference realignment wave — driven [[link removed]] by football television dollars — is a much bigger threat.
Since 2021, ESPN and Fox have bankrolled more than a dozen moves to the Big Ten, Big 12, SEC, and ACC. USC and UCLA could make up to $40 million extra in their new conference, while others like Oregon and Washington will make up to $10 million extra. Stanford and Cal are joining the ACC at a discount, but only because TV money killed their previous home of the Pac-12.
The enterprise is fueled by the revenue generated by predominantly Black football and basketball players, who will continue to generate most of the money funding Division I athletic departments’ predominantly white administrators and sports.
“You can’t understate the racial exploitation that’s going on here,” said Ramogi Huma, executive director of the National College Players Association. “I think in every discussion that should be included as a wakeup call and a reminder.”
On the day the Pac-12 disintegrated, athletes from Oregon to Arizona State tweeted their concerns about being ignored in the shakeup. Coaches, like UCLA’s Mick Cronin, whose pocketbooks will benefit from the extra revenue, have also criticized [[link removed]] the changes. Two athletes Front Office Sports spoke with confirmed locker rooms are mixed on realignment.
On Thursday, the National College Players Association called for Congress to reverse realignment altogether — suggesting every sport besides football should be in a regionally based conference.
Even supporters acknowledged potential concerns caused by travel, from fatigue to frigid temperatures. Toney said the travel will make studying on the road difficult, and some professors refuse to allow athletes certain accommodations, like joining a class online.
“Conference realignment would have a negative impact on us overall,” Stanford women’s soccer player Nya Harrison said in a statement. “Taking midterms and finals on the road, having to make up two-to-three-hour labs, etc., is not sustainable. Conference realignment would result in worsening mental health of college athletes who will have less sleep due to more traveling and more makeup work.”
Additionally, families will have to spend extra money to see their kids play — or forgo travel altogether, NCPA executive director Ramogi Huma told FOS.
Administrators have attempted to minimize the problem, claiming [[link removed]] many Olympic sports athletes will only have a couple of extra cross-country trips — and others will have none at all.
Multiple FBS conferences will rely on the help of a scheduling algorithm [[link removed]] they hope will ease some of these issues, leading to some creative solutions. Schools could send teams to play multiple schools on one road trip — or meet at a school halfway between them. Others like UCLA have preached that their lucrative TV contracts will give them the ability to spend more on travel — making athletes’ journeys easier.
But so far, athletes said they haven’t received concrete answers on how their futures will be affected, or what accommodations they’ll receive to ease the burden.
“None of those ideas are adequate,” Huma said, adding schools could save millions by reverting Olympic sports to regions. “These teams will be flying over a number of regional schools they could have otherwise been playing.”
While discussions with lawmakers are in initial stages, there’s no guarantee that Congress will succeed in passing any proposed legislation to pump the brakes. “So far, we have not found any [Congressional] office that is in support of conference realignment,” Huma said.
Related Reading Oregon State And Washington State Take the Pac-12 To Court [[link removed]]by Amanda Christovich [[link removed]]They're trying to solidify control over the conference. Deion Sanders’ Colorado Is the ‘Worst-Case Scenario’ for Sportsbooks [[link removed]]by Doug Greenberg [[link removed]]The Buffaloes are darlings for the sports betting public. The Mountain West Is Exploring How To Become the New Pac-12 [[link removed]]by Amanda Christovich [[link removed]]The conference is talking about a reverse merger, a source said.
SPONSORED BY PRUDENTIAL
Ethan Quinn asks, “Now What?”
As 19-year-old Ethan Quinn makes his professional tennis debut, one of the primary things on his mind is … planning for retirement.
Why? Because Ethan understands that athletic training and hard work pays off in more ways than one – so he is partnering with Prudential [[link removed]] to invest a portion of his earnings and make it last.
Utilizing Prudential Stages for Retirement [[link removed]] and their team of financial advisors, Ethan will let his money work for him as he builds his tennis career. Through the power of compound interest, his investment could be worth as much as $2.8 million – the value of the grand prize at the US Open – when Ethan is eligible for retirement.
Connect with Prudential [[link removed]] and find out if you’re on track to meet your retirement goals! No matter where you are, Prudential can help you plan for what’s next.*
Weekend Trivia
Ready for the start of the NFL season?
As the NFL season kicks off across the league this weekend, test your knowledge by naming the anticipated Week 1 starting quarterback for each team in our new quiz [[link removed]].
Take the Quiz [[link removed]]
DISCLAIMER
*Ethan Quinn is a paid promoter and will be a customer of Prudential. For more information about his partnership, go to prudential.com/nowwhat.
Prudential Stages is an umbrella marketing name for Pruco Securities LLC, (sometimes referred to as “Pruco”) doing business as Prudential Financial Planning Services, pursuant to a separate agreement. Investment advisory products and services are made available through Pruco, a registered investment adviser.
1073020-00001-00
Advertise [[link removed]] Awards [[link removed]] Learning [[link removed]] Video [[link removed]] Podcast [[link removed]] Sports Careers [[link removed]] Written by Amanda Christovich [[link removed]] Edited by Peter Richman [[link removed]]
If this email was forwarded to you, you can subscribe here [[link removed]].
Update your preferences [link removed] / Unsubscribe [link removed]
Copyright © 2023 Front Office Sports. All rights reserved.
80 Pine Street Suite 3202 New York, NY 10005
