The area where the SEC still has a major upperhand...

[Katatonic]

The networks want to hit 4 million viewers or thereabouts (they round up) so they can get the top advertising rate.

Throughout the past season, the B1G, on avg, has had only 1 game hit that no. (sometimes 2, but sometimes none), whereas the SEC had 2, if not 3 games, hit that mark each week.

Considering that Fox has 1st dibs, that makes for CBS and NBC not being happy campers and could very well result in lower media rights deals the next time around.

This seems to be the driving force behind going back to an 8 hame conference schedule and playing 2 games against SEC opponents and/or further expansion with the focus on FL schools (but the latter not likely to happen for a while).

Seems to be some scuttlebutt re ESPN maneuvering to eventually move UNC with NCST or FSU to the SEC.

 

[Eurocat]

I just think it's that the SEC teams are for the most part in small towns (Auburn Alabama for example, or Oxford Mississippi) rather than in big cities. Vanderbilt is the only exception that comes to mind offhand. Maybe Austin Texas. Maybe Atlanta.

But the Big Ten has teams very much a part of big towns. USC and UCLA in LA, Minnesota in Minneapolis, Rutgers in (pretty much) New York, Ann Arbor is a distant suburb of Detroit. Might be too far for a daily commute but it's an easy ride a few times a year for a game. Seattle has the Huskies. Maryland is a stop on the Washington DC subway line, just like Northwestern and Chicago.

I think the deal is that - for eyeballs - we are competing with the SEC but in half of our towns, with the NFL. No NFL teams compete with you if you are in Starkville, Mississippi or Columbia, South Carolina or Tuscaloosa or Fayetteville, Arkansas.

 

[curdog]

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The networks want to hit 4 million viewers or thereabouts (they round up) so they can get the top advertising rate.

Throughout the past season, the B1G, on avg, has had only 1 game hit that no. (sometimes 2, but sometimes none), whereas the SEC had 2, if not 3 games, hit that mark each week.

Considering that Fox has 1st dibs, that makes for CBS and NBC not being happy campers and could very well result in lower media rights deals the next time around.

This seems to be the driving force behind going back to an 8 hame conference schedule and playing 2 games against SEC opponents and/or further expansion with the focus on FL schools (but the latter not likely to happen for a while).

Seems to be some scuttlebutt re ESPN maneuvering to eventually move UNC with NCST or FSU to the SEC.

The BIG was very top heavy, with 4 very good teams, a handful of good teams, some bad teams and also Purdue. SEC had lots of good teams, but no one very good (maybe Texas but no one else). Having lots of good teams makes for interesting games and keeps fans invested all season due to expanded playoffs.

I would expect the BIG to improve moving forward. Having your big brands be mediocre (Michigan and USC) and lesser but still big brands be not so good (Washington and wiscy) also hurt. Long story short, if I’m a TV executive, I wouldn’t be too worried.

 

[TheC]

I just think it's that the SEC teams are for the most part in small towns (Auburn Alabama for example, or Oxford Mississippi) rather than in big cities. Vanderbilt is the only exception that comes to mind offhand. Maybe Austin Texas. Maybe Atlanta.

But the Big Ten has teams very much a part of big towns. USC and UCLA in LA, Minnesota in Minneapolis, Rutgers in (pretty much) New York, Ann Arbor is a distant suburb of Detroit. Might be too far for a daily commute but it's an easy ride a few times a year for a game. Seattle has the Huskies. Maryland is a stop on the Washington DC subway line, just like Northwestern and Chicago.

I think the deal is that - for eyeballs - we are competing with the SEC but in half of our towns, with the NFL. No NFL teams compete with you if you are in Starkville, Mississippi or Columbia, South Carolina or Tuscaloosa or Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Not just the SEC towns, but the entire states. For those southern states, the college team is their NFL.

I also wonder if the BIG expansion will end up backfiring some. The SEC expanded too, but brought in more regional schools that already had rivalries with some of the existing conference members. We brought in Oregon and Washington. Who the hell in true BIG country cares about Oregon and Washington (or Rutgers and Maryland before them)??!

 

[Katatonic]

While the being rural/not having NFL teams can explain some of it, don't think it can account for all the disparity; plus, the 3 biggest viewership draws (4 if u add USC when they get their act together) are all in states with NFL teams (in the case of PA, Ohio and LA , more than one; and in the SEC/ACC, plenty of CFB viewership in TX and FL despite a number of NFL teams).

Think the echo chamber of the SEC being the best league for around 2 decades has helped to draw viewers, particularly the casual CFB fan (which is similar to the EPL being the most watched soccer league worldwide even tho Real Madrid and Barca are arguably the 2 biggest clubs).

One effect of the echo chamber has been more SEC teams being ranked, as well as having a 2nd SEC team in the PO back when it was only 4 (leading to a greater chance of the conference winning the Natty) - which feeds back into said echo chamber.

And yes, having programs like Wisky and Nebby fall off greatly with Iowa being Iowa (a real, painful and boring watch) hasn't heled.

 

[AdamOnFirst]

While the being rural/not having NFL teams can explain some of it, don't think it can account for all the disparity; plus, the 3 biggest viewership draws (4 if u add USC when they get their act together) are all in states with NFL teams (in the case of PA, Ohio and LA , more than one; and in the SEC/ACC, plenty of CFB viewership in TX and FL despite a number of NFL teams).

Think the echo chamber of the SEC being the best league for around 2 decades has helped to draw viewers, particularly the casual CFB fan (which is similar to the EPL being the most watched soccer league worldwide even tho Real Madrid and Barca are arguably the 2 biggest clubs).

One effect of the echo chamber has been more SEC teams being ranked, as well as having a 2nd SEC team in the PO back when it was only 4 (leading to a greater chance of the conference winning the Natty) - which feeds back into said echo chamber.

And yes, having programs like Wisky and Nebby fall off greatly with Iowa being Iowa (a real, painful and boring watch) hasn't heled.

This is a pretty good point. I've fallen victem to it myself. When people say SEC country doesn't have pro sports, all they are really talking about is the gulf south. Georgia, Tennesee, Texas, Florida... all big time pro sports locales.

I think we're been self-flagellating though. The Big Ten has won the last two natties with two teams that were very obviously the top teams in the land. The SEC didn't even get 4 into the tournament this year. Bama, the source of the SEC's dominance, is on shaky ground. The national narrative isn't about SEC dominance right now.