One of college athletics’ potential future have-nots got a warning Thursday for college football’s current and future haves.
Iowa State athletics director Jamie Pollard had strong words for the Big Ten and the SEC, who, with their disproportionately lucrative television contracts and a larger share of the expanded College Football Playoff, are pulling themselves further apart financially. from the rest of the sport, while also shaping their future on the field with this financial leverage.
“The CFP is just another example of our industry gone mad,” Pollard said at the Cyclone Tailgate Tour kickoff event Thursday in West Des Moines, “and they are trying to swallow the ACC and the Big 12.
“I wish them all the best because they are going to eat their own.”
What could mean what, exactly?
“Just watch the evolution,” Pollard said. “It’s not the SEC and the Big Ten. It is those who have all the gold who dictate all the rules. So if I were a member of the Big Ten or the SEC, I would start looking over my shoulder and wondering when the day will come when the top of the SEC won’t want the bottom of the SEC.
“Go back and look a few times. When the AFL and NFL merged, they only needed one commissioner. And when the NBA and ABA merged, they only needed one commissioner. The day will come when they won’t need two $6 million a year commissioners and will eat their own. And if we think that’s not going to happen, you’re a fool because we didn’t think the Pac-12 would get eaten and it did.”
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It’s certainly a thinly veiled prediction (claim? Hypothesis?) that the Big Ten and the SEC may not exist as separate entities as they continue to increasingly pursue college football dollars and on-field success through realignment. aggressive and enormous legislative changes. scenario that could include some form of revenue sharing.
Those holding the “gold” are also the television partners, who are paying exorbitant amounts of money and could benefit from further consolidation, given that Ohio State and Michigan receive the same money from the Big Ten television deal as Rutgers and Maryland.
Former Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby accused ESPN of meddling in the league and trying to disrupt it when Texas and Oklahoma announced their departures from the Big 12.
“I’m saying from an evolution standpoint, if you asked me two years ago if the Pac-12 would exist in 2025, I think we all would have said yes,” Pollard said. “You don’t have to look back very far to see what happened and you can see what’s happening.”
The Pac-12 collapsed last year, with its members scattering into the Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC, and Oregon State and Washington State left to enter a scheduling alliance with the much less prestigious Mountain West.
So when Pollard draws a line between the Pac-12 and the Big Ten and the SEC, this, presumably, is a warning to the non-elite schools in those conferences that their positions may not be as secure in the future as college football. continues to be. stratify along financial lines.
Both the Big Ten and SEC are approaching $1 billion in annual member payments, while each secured 29% of new College Football Playoff revenue. On the other hand, the Big 12 are expected to distribute close to $700 million and will receive 15 percent of the CFP money.
According to Pollard, this money came, in large part, due to the consolidation of finances and power in the Big Ten and the SEC. And it could continue within these leagues.
“It’s reasonable to project the future and say: Why don’t you think this will continue?” Pollard said. “That those with the gold will dictate the rules.”
What Jamie Pollard said about the Big Ten and the SEC
Question: The alliance between the Big Ten and the SEC is moving apart financially, is this a foreboding or is it at least on the horizon as disruptive as anything, including (revenue sharing)?
Pollard: Just watch the evolution. It’s not the SEC and the Big Ten. It is those who have all the gold who dictate all the rules. So if I were a member of the Big Ten or the SEC, I would start looking over my shoulder and wondering when the day will come when the top of the SEC won’t want the bottom of the SEC. Go back and look sometimes. When the AFL and NFL merged, they only needed one commissioner. And when the NBA and ABA merged, they only needed one commissioner. The day will come when they won’t need two $6 million a year commissioners and will eat their own. And if we think that’s not going to happen, you’re a fool because we didn’t think the Pac-12 would get eaten and it did. PCP is just another example of our industry gone mad, and they are trying to swallow the ACC and the Big 12. I wish them all the best because they are going to eat their own.
Question: So you think the SEC and Big Ten didn’t exist separately at some point? Is that what you’re saying?
Pollard: I’m saying from an evolution standpoint, if you asked me two years ago if the Pac-12 would exist in 2025, I think we all would have said yes. You don’t have to look back very far to see what happened and you can see what’s happening. It’s reasonable to project the future and ask: Why don’t you think this will continue? That those with the gold will dictate the rules.
Travis Hines covers Iowa State University sports for the Des Moines Register and Ames Tribune. Contact him at thines@amestrib.com or (515) 284-8000. Ffollow him on X at @TravisHines21.
This article originally appeared in the Des Moines Register: Jamie Pollard: Those who have all the gold make all the rules
