Texas A.D. On Expansion: “We’re Very Happy with 10″

January 16th, 2013 09:20 AM║ Posted By: Mike Mitchell ║ Permalink ║ Schools: Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State, Missouri, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt
Tags: Big East, Big Ten, Deloss Dodds, SEC

Being part of a conference that’s lost four teams and added two in recent years, Texas A.D. Deloss Dodds has seen firsthand the impact of conference reshuffling. The result of losing Colorado, Nebraska, Missouri and Texas A&M and adding TCU and West Virginia means the Big 12 is a 10-team conference, a number Dodds seems to like.

With the Big Ten on the verge of expansion, the Big East crumbling and rampant realignment rumors seemingly popping up daily, Dodds was asked by Chuck Carlton of the Dallas Morning News how closely he was watching the national landscape.

“Absolutely you watch that and think about it and plan around it and think about your own conference, the Big 12. The Big Ten added geography and markets. I don’t know about the SEC and if it might react by going to 16. I don’t know if the Big Ten will go to 16. We’re very happy with 10. It works for us geographically, it works for us financially and it works for us competitively.”

Dodds was also asked by the “haves” and ”have-nots” of the college football world. ”Money makes a difference,” said the Texas A.D., “but not that much of a difference. The 85 scholarships have made more difference.”

Those comments on money come as a new study shows spending on sports in the power conferences has passed $100,000 per athlete. In the SEC, the figure tops $163,000. In the Big 12, that number exceeds $131,00 per athlete.

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12 comments

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yerboyfloyd

I really like this comment (from the comments section) on one of the other stories John posted...

Mizzou_82 1 hour ago

@SEC Official These rankings really don't mean much because all of the conference media deals are staggered and are constantly being renegotiated due to expansion. The original Big XII media deal looked great when it was first signed but looked horrible by 2010 when realignment started up again. The SEC dominated revenue until the Big Ten Network started pulling in profits. The Big XII has a great deal right now, but they were clearly overpaid in an effort by ESPN to keep the conference from breaking apart. Before realignment, the SEC had higher ratings by half over the #2 Big Ten, and that was before expanding their footprint by a third to add the states of Texas and Missouri. The A&M/Alabama game beat the Texas game in ratings IN AUSTIN. That's what's going to get the SEC a big payday... at least until the Big Ten ups their contract.

finforreagan

DD "It works for us geographically" - Obama couldn't spin the inclusion of West Virginia as geographically friendly to the public any better. DD knows that in years when his team only marginally underachieves or better, then he has the easiest path to potential BCS-level bowl than if they added teams with chops. And he knows the Big12(10) won't take a whizz without asking his permission. You really believe had they to do it over, WVU wouldn't prefer the Big10 (unlikely the Big10 would want them) or ACC (who appears willing to take about anyone).

BonzaiB

Money makes a difference, but not that much a difference? From the Texas AD? Wow, thought I was in an alternate universe for a second, then realized some AD's are not known for speaking the truth unless they just have to.... and most of the time, they just don't have to. And that was just a comment on the business of being an AD, not Dodds in particular.

torris187

It's too bad, out of that 163,000$ that is spent on the athlete, hardly any of that money goes to the athlete itself (salary, tutition, room & board). Guess that is what happens when you have a salary cap on your employees. The money is still there, it just gets funneled to anciallary people rather than the athlete itself.

Quidam65

Considering Texas lost to both new members this season they can ill afford any more additions!

In all seriousness, maybe the Big 12 has a point about not having a conference championship game. Although it works very well (and very profitably) for the SEC, it didn't do all that well for the Big 10 (where Nebraska, a program with very loyal fans, returned around 7,000 tickets) or the PAC-12 (where more fans attended Oregon State's rescheduled beatdown over rent-a-win Nicholls State than the PAC-12 CCG) or especially the ACC (where tickets were available so cheap on StubHub that you paid more for processing fees than the ticket itself). At least the Big 12 won't have to depend on some local government taxpayer subsidy to break even on a CCG.

torris187

If they hosted the championship game in a city of a team that actually played it, then they might sell the tickets. Hosting it in a nuetral city to me is just stupid. All they would need to do alternate year to year which division representative would host the game. For the ACC, one year the Atlantic Division representative would host it, the next year the Costal Division Rep would host it.

ChaseTheTrain

@torris187 HAY HAY HAY! i rather enjoyed going to Charlotte (only 15 mins from my house) hopping on the light rail ($3) going to a local bar to watch the SEC championship ( 8x 1.50 beers) and making it to the stadium ( $2 tickets) and having an ooooooookaay time watching the game for under $20.

ChaseTheTrainWarren

@torris187 @BonzaiB @ChaseTheTrain yes i was poking fun of the low cost of it all, but this is also a point that i don' think many people understand about conference expansion, and holding on to the idea that all conferences need to be based on geography.

i will use Clemson here for an example, with there ACC games as they are now they may have a home game slate of GT, NC st , Pitt and FSU.....

with that situation of those four games as someone who lives in Charlotte and the campus is 2 hours away and being a college football fan and not a big fan of those two teams, only FSU is a game that i would be intrested in going to go see or has a large group or transplant fans around the nation.

now if they go to the Big XII the home slate could line us as Texas, Kansas, WV and OK st. now while it dose have Kansas the others are 3 teams that would draw my attention and i would most likely go to two of those.

its not about getting people to travel across the country, its about packing the stadiums you already have.

torris187

@BonzaiB @ChaseTheTrain Cost of going to an away game in a long distance city for 2 people.

1. Hotel room 115-180$

2. Plane Tickets 200-400$

3. Game Tickets 80-160$

4. Food & Drinks 200-400$

BonzaiB

@ChaseTheTrain @torris187 Seriously? You can't eat out at just about any sit down restaurant for that. That's a pretty good deal for a college game: I spent more than that when a buddy of mine went to an Allen HS football game this year. Well done.

Quidam65

The PAC hosted their 2012 game at Stanford's home stadium and barely got over 31K to attend.

The SEC, meanwhile, has hosted their game at a neutral site since Year 1 (and since Year 3 has hosted it in Atlanta); it hasn't hurt them one bit.

The real reason that no one sees those games is because the games are garbage. How excited can you be about a game where the final score may resemble a basketball game (had USC and Oregon been the teams, their first game was 62-51)?

torris187

@Quidam65 Atlanta is very location friendly site for consumers to go to. The SEC is very close when it comes to Geography. Other leagues however have a big geography problem. The ACC for a long time has hosted the championship game in Tampa Florida. Imagine if Maryland was in that game, a Maryland fan will have to travel all the way down to Tampa just to see the game. Then if Maryland won and got a BCS bid, that fan would like to travel again to see the BCS game. That is just too much to ask.

Most SEC fans can drive to Atlanta (Until the recent additions of A&M and Missou). USC, UGA, Auburn, Alabama, Tennessee, UF. They all have very close proximities to the championship site (also note that most of those team are usually in the championship game). That is a pretty low cost to the fans themselves.

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