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The SEC Behemoth (the big, giant monster)
25 maps that explain college football
https://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2014/8/20/6030683/25-maps-that-explain-college-football
Why the SEC Dominates College Football, in Six Charts
A team from the Southeastern Conference has won college football’s championship for seven seasons in a row. On Jan. 6, against Florida State University, Auburn University will try to make it eight. That the SEC is the strongest conference in college football is now a settled matter for all but the most feverish Big Ten boosters.
The question of why remains a subject of rabid debate. Pinning down the source of the SEC’s greatness is a chicken-and-egg problem. The SEC wins because its schools have big sports budgets. Its schools have big sports budgets because they win. And round and round we go. The search for a first cause often ends in mythology. It’s a Southern pride thing! Nick Saban sold his soul to the devil!
Here—at the risk of vitriol from all corners and with a debt to Ray Glier’s book, How the SEC Became Goliath—is a rudimentary attempt to answer the question in six charts.
The SEC’s virtuous cycle begins with demand. Its football teams have the most fans in the stadiums:
They also have the most fans watching from home:
These legions of fans are ultimately the source of the money that flows into SEC athletic department coffers from ticket sales, licensing, and—most of all—the sale of media rights. Schools spend it on coaches, engaging in bidding wars to get and keep top talent. The chart below shows average head coach pay. (Strength and conditioning coaches, too, can make hundreds of thousands of dollars at the top SEC schools, according to Glier, but that’s not shown here.)
Schools also spend millions on lavish athletic facilities that make them more attractive to recruits. According to the Delta Cost Project on Postsecondary Education Costs, the SEC spends the most (PDF), at $163,931 per athlete in 2010. The Big 12 comes in second at $131,286. Below is a further way to measure how SEC schools lead the pack in resources. It shows the top 25 U.S. colleges and universities by the amount of money their athletic departments generate, per undergraduate—money that’s then available to be spent on facilities, coaching, equipment, and so forth. Ten of the top 25 are SEC schools:
The most powerful recruiting promise of all is a pipeline to the NFL. And the Southeast is by far the most fertile territory in the United States for finding and grooming NFL players. The chart below shows the top 14 states (plus Washington D.C.) by number of first- and second-round NFL draft picks since 2000, per million residents. (Thanks to Alex Bresler at Aragorn for the player data.) Seven are states with SEC schools whose football teams make a point of signing the best players born in their backyards.
As they scour high schools from South Carolina to Louisiana, SEC coaches value size and strength above all. In title game after title game, SEC teams have out-muscled smaller teams built around quality at “skill positions,” primarily quarterback and receiver. “It is big people beating up little people,” Glier writes in How the SEC Became Goliath. Below are the top five teams in college football by the average weight of players on the roster in 2013. Guess which conference has three of them.
College Football: The Top 8 Reasons the SEC Dominates the Recruiting Rankings
National Signing Day is upon us, and, as usual, the national recruiting class rankings are filled with teams from the Southeastern Conference.
As many as nine conference schools will grace the rankings list of recruiting websites all over the web.
That means that nearly 40 percent of the top 25 recruiting classes in the entire nation (from a base of over 116 teams) will be from the SEC.
Some might call that dominant.
How have the programs in the SEC been able to thrive in recruiting as a whole as compared to the rest of the conferences?
This slideshow will detail why SEC programs are winning consistently in the recruiting season...
Coaches
High school players can be attracted to big name coaches at big name programs, there is no doubt.
However, it may be the parents who are most swayed by the "celebrity" of some of the high profile coaches visiting their living room and promising to take care of their child in college.
When it comes to top coaches and high profile head men, and the top recruiters in the business, the SEC has no equal.
In a recent ESPN Magazine article the writers polled current top recruits from all over the nation and those recruits voted Alabama's Nick Saban and Auburn's Gene Chizik as the top recruiters in the country.
On top of that kind of recognition, the fact remains that the Southeastern Conference programs pay to get elite coaches.
As a matter of fact, according to BusinessInsider.com, 10 of the top 20 highest paid college football coaches in the entire country reside in the SEC.
The SEC also employs six of the top 12 winningest coaches in BCS conferences heading into 2012.
If you want to play for a big time recruiter, a big time coach and a winning coach, odds are you could land in the SEC.
Big and Loud Stadiums
When recruits visit colleges in the fall to see the big games, they are many times drawn to the bigger, louder and crazier stadium atmospheres.
It gets them hyped up and wanting to be a part of the special scene unfolding in front of them.
The SEC has seven of the 14 largest stadiums in the country and houses many of the loudest venues as well.
According to the Business Journal, 11 of the top 25 programs in annual college football attendance reside in the Southeastern Conference.
When an SEC staff brings in a recruit to their stadium, odds are it's a big game, a full stadium and a loud and fun experience.
NFL
Top recruits want to play in the NFL.
Many of them have dreams of playing at the pro level and are looking for the best school to get them there.
The SEC has excelled in getting players into the National Football League.
As a matter of fact, more players from the SEC have been drafted to the NFL than any other conference in the nation for five consecutive years.
There has now been 132 straight rounds of the NFL draft that an SEC player has been selected.
Maybe most important, there have been 64 straight drafts in which at least one player from the SEC was selected in the first round.
Cam Newton was the most recent No. 1 pick and thrived in his first year with Carolina. This kind of success doesn't go unnoticed by blue-chip prep stars.
As an elite recruit, your chances of making the NFL are stronger in the SEC than anywhere else.
Winning Traditions
In case you have been on another planet for the last six years, it is worth noting that a team from the SEC has won the national championship each of the last six seasons.
Top recruits that list "winning" as important in their search for the right program will be obviously drawn to the Southeastern Conference.
Alabama, Auburn, LSU and Florida have raised the crystal trophy over the past six seasons and helped raise the recruiting results of an entire conference.
Not even on that list are major programs with winning traditions like Texas A&M, Tennessee and Georgia and top schools that have put together double-digit win totals in recent years like Arkansas, Missouri and South Carolina.
If you want to win games and have a shot at winning championships, your best bet may be in the SEC.
The Fanatics
Many top athletes are passionate about their sport, and that resonates with other passionate people.
On recruiting visits and in the media, elite recruits can see the passion that exudes from fans in the SEC.
You won't find more engaged or passionate fans than you will find at Southeastern Conference programs.
Andrea Adelson of the Orlando Sentinel recently wrote, when asked about passion in college football, that, "cheering for the Tide is a way of life. Football is discussed every single day of the year, from recruiting to coaching to play-calling to expectations."
In the same article, Dean Jones of the Baltimore Sun agreed when he stated, "Nothing compares to what happens in the Southeastern Conference."
Read more on what these two had to say about passionate SEC fans here.
Recruits and their families are aware of this year-round obsession with college football in the SEC, and for many of them, that type of spotlight is exactly what they are looking for.
TV Exposure
If a recruit chooses an SEC program, he knows he will be on television very often.
This is a powerful recruiting tool each SEC school uses to draw talent into the conference.
A TV contract the SEC signed in 2008 (effective 2009 through 2024) included an SEC Game of the Week on CBS each fall Saturday and ESPN having rights to every other SEC home game, displaying the majority of them on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU and accessible on ESPN GamePlan and ESPN360.
In 2009 Stewart Madel, senior college football writer at Sports Illustrated wrote:
Sorry, Big Ten fans, but the SEC has trumped your conference yet again. This time, though, it didn't happen at a BCS bowl game. This time, SEC teams are invading the Big Ten's own turf—and storming Big 12, Pac-10 and ACC country while they're at it. The SEC will begin an unprecedented assault on our nation's television sets. The 2009 season marks the beginning of a new 15-year, $2.25 billion contract with ESPN, which coincides with a 15-year, $825 million deal with CBS. At the SEC's preseason Media Days in Hoover, Ala., this week, league and ESPN officials unveiled the details of their new arrangement, and this much is clear: Whether you're in Alabama or Arizona, Michigan or Mississippi, you're about experience a deluge of SEC football.
See the entire Mandel article on the power of the SEC TV contract here.
The TV exposure he spoke about has unfolded over the past four years and made the SEC the most televised college football conference in America.
If you are a top recruit that wants national exposure, the SEC is the place to be.
Geography
Most of the top recruits in the country come from the South.
The weather is more conducive to the sport, and the focus on football is greater in the Deep South than it is anywhere else in the country.
As a prime example, ESPN.com's Paula Lavigne recently wrote an article about top talent in the South and wrote,"In 2010, census data show about 37 percent of people in the United States lived in the South, but in the same year, about 53 percent of the top recruits came from there."
When your region has that strong share of the talent pool in its own backyard, it stands to reason that those Southern schools, especially the major programs in the SEC, would garner most of these top players.
Not to mention, if you were an elite recruit, would you rather spend a recruiting visit in October in Nebraska, Minnesota or Maryland, or in sunny Florida or Louisiana?
The SEC has the upper-hand in football geography and is reaping the rewards.
The Money
College football recruiting can get expensive for schools looking to get commitments from elite players.
On average, those schools that spend the most are proving to be racking in top recruits more so than the others.
The SEC makes up six of the top eight programs that are spending the most on recruiting in the entire country.
Furthermore, seven of the top 11 most profitable football programs in the nation reside in the Southeastern Conference.
That money gives the SEC programs the ability to build things like impressive weight rooms, better locker rooms, luxury recruiting centers and big fancy recruiting weekends.
Money matters in college football, and the SEC as a whole has more to spend than any other conference.
How the SEC Network became a nearly $5 billion powerhouse in a year
https://www.al.com/sports/2015/08/how_the_sec_network_became_a_n.html
Mike Slive knew that if the Southeastern Conference wanted to increase its revenue, a conference television network would be a good idea.
But Slive, who stepped down in May after nearly 13 years as commissioner of the SEC, realized the timing wasn't right to launch a network in 2009 when the SEC's deals with ESPN and CBS were up for renewal, according to several athletic directors who were involved in the process. The Big Ten had already launched its network, but the economy was in recession, and rumors of more conference realignment were picking up.
Slive decided to wait.
That decision proved extremely lucrative for the commissioner and the rest of the SEC. The conference later added Missouri and Texas A&M in 2011, increasing the SEC's cable television footprint by more than 10 million homes, according to Nielsen data, and giving Slive the ammo he needed to move forward with a network.
The SEC Network, which celebrated its first birthday on Aug. 14, was more successful than anyone could have imagined. After the most successful network launch in cable television history, the SEC Network has a market value of $4.77 billion, according to research firm SNL Kagan. By comparison, the Big Ten Network, which launched in 2007, has a value of $1.59 billion.
How did the SEC Network blow away the competition in its first year? It starts with the fans.
"The SEC's passion and devotion is clearly showing through here," said Jeff Nelson, vice president of client strategy at Navigate Research. "People wanted the network and were willing to pay for the network."
Even the most casual observer knows the South is crazy about college football. Like, run full speed inside Bryant-Denny Stadium to get Nick Saban's autograph crazy. It's what brings people together and gives them an endless supply of things to talk about year-round.
That passion made up the backbone of the SEC Network's appeal to cable providers. While the Big Ten Network battled with providers for years, the SEC Network was available in 90 million homes when it launched. The reason was simple: The cable providers knew they'd risk losing customers, particularly ones in the SEC's footprint if it didn't provide the network.
When AT&T U-Verse considered whether it'd add the SEC Network when it launched, it evaluated the intensity of the average SEC viewer, looking at how often and how long they watched SEC sports. What AT&T learned was that "the subscriber intensity on viewership was off the charts for what we normally see for sports," according to Ryan Smith, vice president of content for AT&T. U-Verse, which became the first provider to sign on, even hoped other providers didn't distribute the network immediately so they could add additional customers.
"Some of the other college conferences they do well but far and away the SEC is the most intense and has the strongest viewership of really any of those conferences," Smith said.
Knowing it had an army of passionate viewers up its sleeve, the SEC Network negotiated an aggressive subscriber fee of $1.30 or $1.40, depending on the provider, for its 30 million in-market subscribers. That's significantly higher than either the Big Ten or Pac-12 network rates. When adding a $0.25 out-of-market rate (outside SEC footprint), the network has an average subscriber fee of $0.66 in the 66 million subscriber homes it averaged in its first year, according to SNL Kagan.
On the conservative end, that's $576 million in revenue without even factoring in advertising.
"That a network covering 14 schools in 11 states in this country could generate that much traction early on and that much distribution," Mississippi State athletic director Scott Stricklin said, "it speaks to all the things we know are special about this league."
Power of ESPN
The SEC took a different approach when it launched its network. While the Pac-12 retained full ownership in its network, which has struggled to get widespread distribution, the SEC partnered with ESPN to launch the SEC Network. The SEC doesn't have an ownership stake in the network -- ESPN has full ownership -- but instead negotiated a revenue split with the sports television power.
ESPN and the SEC declined to provide the exact terms of the arrangement, but it is believed to be a little less than a 50/50 split. That could limit the long-term revenue potential for the SEC and its schools -- the Big Ten still owns a little less than half of its network -- but gave it a tremendous advantage when initially negotiating carriage agreements.
Any resistance the network might have faced, ESPN could muscle its way through. ESPN was able to sell the network under its umbrella of other properties, including its main ESPN channel and ESPN2, making it almost impossible for cable providers to say no. It guaranteed that the SEC Network wouldn't get relegated to a distant channel you can't find the way CBS Sports Network and others have in recent years.
The Pac-12, without a powerful friend like ESPN, has struggled fighting its way out of premium packages and into markets. Larry Scott, the Pac-12's commissioner, has publicly stated he was "disappointed that DirecTV has been willing to negotiate with ESPN for the SEC Network but not Pac-12" and that it showed the provider was more interested in dealing with conglomerates.
"When ESPN gets behind something and puts its resources with a new initiative like the SEC Network, it's an impressive thing to watch and see," said Justin Connolly who oversaw the launch as senior vice president of college networks for ESPN. "No doubt we benefited there."
ESPN added credibility to the operation and helped cable providers feel comfortable that the content would be high quality. The network had already launched the Longhorn Network, focused all on the University of Texas, and learned through trial-and-error what the SEC Network would need to be successful. While the Longhorn Network hasn't met expectations, its failures taught ESPN a valuable lesson and helped power the unprecedented success of the SEC's television channel.
Connolly, who is now executive vice president of affiliate sales and marketing for Disney and ESPN, relied on veterans who had experience launching networks, programming shows and televising games.
What's the potential?
The downside of the most successful network launch in cable history, if there is one, is trying to best astronomical expectations going forward. The SEC Network launched in more television sets than anyone expected but now must find a way to keep growing despite a declining number of cable television subscribers in the United States.
Navigate Research vice president Jeff Nelson believes there is a ceiling on how many people will pay to watch the network. Finding ways to boost revenue given that reality will be one of the network's primary challenges going forward, he says.
"It's a great story that they got this amazing distribution right off the bat, but it's not like they can double that distribution, not even close," Nelson said. "It's going to be a matter of trying to grow their advertising and sponsorship deals in the short-term and when these carriage deals come up with different cable providers, that will be when the SEC has a chance for the really big boost."
The majority of the SEC Network's carriage deals aren't expected to come up for renewal soon, but ESPN declined to provide terms of the contract except to say they were long-term. If the network can continue to prove its worth, Nelson doesn't think it's outlandish for the SEC's in-market subscriber fee to jump from $1.30/$1.40 to $2.00 or $3.00. A jump of that magnitude could give the network more than a billion dollars annually on simply subscriber fees.
"I would have said it was crazy two years ago," Nelson said. "But when they were so successful at $1.30, I'm sure they are thinking big."
hampionship games in recent years, the ACC continues to offer revenue distributions that are comparably lower to other conferences.
SEC Football Leaving CBS After 2023, Likely For ESPN/ABC
https://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/SB-Blogs/Breaking-News/2019/12/SEC.aspx
CBS will walk away from the SEC when its contract ends after the 2023 football season, and all indications are that the package will move to ESPN/ABC. CBS decided to exit the negotiations for college football's most-watched TV package after making an aggressive bid in the neighborhood of $300 million per season -- a massive increase from the $55 million it currently pays annually. CBS Sports execs decided that it made more sense to invest the money they would have paid the SEC into other sports. When contacted this afternoon by SBJ, CBS Sports PR emailed the following statement: “We made a strong and responsible bid. While we‘ve had success with the SEC on CBS, we are instead choosing to aggressively focus on other important strategic priorities moving forward.”
Multiple sources said ESPN/ABC is in the final stages of negotiating a deal that is expected to pay more than six times the $55 million per year fee that CBS currently pays, sources said. Fox Sports execs still are planning to make an official bid presentation at SEC HQ in Birmingham next month. But sources say ESPN’s negotiations are in the final stages. ESPN and Fox Sports would not comment.
CBS plans to carry SEC football for the four seasons it has left on its contract, unless the conference or winning network is able to buy it out. CBS has carried SEC football since 1996 and network execs were interested in extending. When bidding went well over $300 million per season for 15-17 football games, including the conference championship game, CBS opted to bow out.
The decision to move away from CBS carries some risk for the SEC, especially considering that it has been college football’s most-viewed package for more than 10 years running. The conference will go from a network where it is the only college football conference to one where it will be one of many conferences. Insiders credit some of the SEC’s success on Saturday afternoons with being the sole focus of CBS’ Emmy-winning coverage.
The decision to walk away from the SEC does not suggest that CBS is tight-fisted. Since its merge with Viacom, CBS has dug into its pockets for the UEFA Champions League and has agreed on terms for an extension with the PGA Tour that will see a 60% increase in rights fees. CBS is expected to be aggressive in retaining its NFL Sunday afternoon package.
ESPN won the conference over with its argument that it can be more creative with scheduling when it controls all of the rights. With ESPN owning all of the SEC’s football rights, it’s possible that more than one game will be produced for broadcast TV; more top-tier games can be moved to primetime; and the conference can schedule more late afternoon games without having to worry about running into CBS’ exclusive window. SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey has been concerned about all of the league’s rights being tied up with ABC/ESPN because of the leverage it would give the media company, sources said. It is not known if ESPN opened up its contract to operate SEC Network or its cable rights as part of these negotiations. Those contracts run through 2034.
Mitsubishi Motors Las Vegas Bowl joins forces with SEC, Big Ten and Pac-12 at new Las Vegas Stadium starting in 2020
Beginning in 2020, the Las Vegas Bowl will be played in the new, state-of-the-art Las Vegas Stadium and feature a team from the Pac-12 Conference vs. a team from either the SEC or Big Ten Conference in a six-year deal announced Tuesday at the Palms Resort.
"This is a ground-breaking development for our game and for our city," said John Saccenti, Mitsubishi Motors Las Vegas Bowl executive director. “In less than three decades the Las Vegas Bowl has grown into a must-see event each December and this collaboration takes us to the next level in not only the bowl world, but also the sports landscape as we will welcome three of the top conference brands in the nation to our event, which will be played in a stadium that is second-to-none.”
The new agreement will run from the 2020 game through the 2025 game and the Las Vegas Bowl will be move to a post-Christmas date for the first time. During those years, the Las Vegas Bowl will get the No. 2 selection (after the College Football Playoff selection) from the Pac-12 and share that position with the Holiday Bowl.
"We are excited to continue our partnership with the Las Vegas Bowl and to join with the SEC, Big Ten, Las Vegas Stadium, ESPN and LVCVA to take the Las Vegas Bowl to the next level of success in the years to come,” said Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott. “The experience of hosting some of our premier Pac-12 events in Las Vegas has been tremendous for our student-athletes, universities and fans, and to have the opportunity to play in such an incredible stadium against top quality competition on a national stage through ESPN will be welcomed by our student-athletes and fans."
The Las Vegas Bowl will share a spot with the Belk Bowl in the SEC “pool of six” that follows the CFP and Citrus selections and host a team here in 2020, ’22 and ’24.
“We are pleased to add the Las Vegas Bowl to the SEC bowl lineup,” SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said. “The Las Vegas Bowl provides the SEC with a new and exciting destination for our student-athletes and traveling fans at a location outside our traditional geographic footprint and in a much-anticipated matchup with a Pac-12 Conference opponent. We enjoy great relationships with some of the best bowl games in college football. With the addition of the Las Vegas Bowl, the SEC continues to provide a wide array of rewarding bowl game experiences for our student-athletes and fans in celebration of a successful season.”
The Las Vegas Bowl will share a Big Ten spot with the Music City Bowl after the CFP, Citrus and Outback selections and host a team here in 2021, ’23 and ’25.
“We are excited to announce a new partnership with the Las Vegas Bowl through 2025 and to add to our longstanding bowl ties with the Pac-12 in a new location,” Big Ten Commissioner James E. Delany said. “The city of Las Vegas is a world-class destination that will be attractive to the participants and fans from our schools, and the support provided by the Raiders organization and ESPN will create a tremendous opportunity to elevate this game into a must-see event during the bowl season.”
Since the game debuted in 1992, every Las Vegas Bowl has been played at UNLV’s Sam Boyd Stadium, which is located seven miles from the World Famous Las Vegas Strip. In 2020 the event will move to the $1.8 billion Las Vegas Stadium currently under construction near Las Vegas Boulevard. Also the new home of the NFL’s Raiders franchise and UNLV football, capacity will be approximately 65,000, including 128 suites.
“The Raiders are proud to partner with the LVCVA and ESPN Events to bring the tradition of the Las Vegas Bowl to Las Vegas Stadium, which will provide an exciting destination for fans from the Pac-12, SEC and Big Ten conferences,” said Raiders President Marc Badain. “The Raiders are committed to working with the LVCVA to continue to attract elite sporting events to the newest world-class venue in the Entertainment Capital of the World.”
“We’re pleased to welcome the 2020 Las Vegas Bowl’s new partners, the Southeastern Conference and Big Ten,” said Steve Hill, CEO and president of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. “The matchup against the Pac-12 Conference will excite fans across the country, highlight our new stadium and serve as a great economic boost for Southern Nevada.”
The 2019 Mitsubishi Motors Las Vegas Bowl will be played Saturday, Dec. 21, at 4:30 p.m. PT (7:30 p.m. ET) at Sam Boyd Stadium. The game will be televised nationally during primetime on ABC, featuring the top choice from the Mountain West against a team from the Pac-12 Conference.
The Mitsubishi Motors Las Vegas Bowl is one of 15 bowl games owned and operated by ESPN Events, a division of ESPN.