Jeff Bezos: Big Football Guy

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Happy Friday, folks. 

Let's set the scene:

The ground was shaking. Sidewalks cracking. Buildings swaying. Thousands of screams pierced the air. The citizens of Louisiana finally understand what life is like for those on the West Coast where the San Andreas Fault's presence makes earthquakes a regular part of life.

However, the experience in the Bayou wasn't caused by the moving and shaking of tectonic plates. Instead, it was provoked by the rabid LSU fan base's response to an OT tuddy run from quarterback Jayden Daniels and the subsequent 2 point conversion pass to true freshman Mason Taylor.

The celebration in the stadium was so loud that it literally registered on the school's seismograph monitor, precisely peaking when each of these two events occurred on the field. The city of Baton Rouge was fine with the structural damage to their homes, though given it was for a good cause as the Bayou Bengals took down the juggernaut Alabama Crimson Tide. Geaux Tigers.

I'm a big podcast guy. Not like the annoying "you should all get up at 5 and meditate for an hour" or "you need seven forms of passive income" kind of podcast, but when I'm at the gym and my headphones are in, I'm listening to updates on college football recruiting instead of Drake. No podcast gets as many listens, though, as Late Kick with Josh Pate.

Now, imagine the emotional impact that this Twitter exchange had on me earlier this week...

On the NIL front, there was some significant news out of Pennsylvania. On Tuesday, the state unanimously passed updated legislation which widens the scope of what schools are allowed to do for their student athletes when it comes to deal searching and reporting. 

University officials are now able to be front and center by explicitly sourcing NIL deals, opening up endorsement opportunities to even more players and brands. It also means that athletic departments can now work more closely with collectives to funnel money into their athletes' bank accounts, greatly boosting the pipeline of deals for players. Me next, please.

Further, athletes are no longer required to report on deals at least seven days before they're signed. Previously, players were required to notify university administrators of deals they intended to execute with at least a week's notice, a headache of a process for all involved. And we all know how quick and reliable school admin is with this sort of thing...

Both moves are intended to provide greater confidentiality and agency for athletes over their endorsements, but they also serve a competitive purpose as they allow Pennsylvania schools, namely Pitt and Penn State, to better compete in recruiting in both the high school and transfer portal ranks. Schools are now better able to sell their programs as attractive options as they can point to the deals that they are facilitating on behalf of their players. TBD whether an increased number of cheesesteak company endorsements will convince more athletes to leave places like sunny CA for PA.

There is also growing optimism that a loosening of rules at the high school level could be coming. There will be a vote next month on an amendment made to allow high school players to profit off of their name, image, likeness. Unlike with the updated college guidance, schools would still not be allowed to negotiate on behalf of their players, and players would not be allowed to promote any of their brand endorsement partners in school activities or games, but it still offers yet another way for these students to pay for gas money with a $50 check from a local bank or BBQ restaurant.

And the best news of it all, Kansas Jayhawk quarterback Jason Bean signed an NIL deal with canned food brand Serious Bean Co. Yep, Bean signed with a bean company. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it can be assumed that given JB's rising status after taking over for injured starter Jalon Daniels and leading Kansas to its first bowl game since 2008(!), the gunslinger was likely well compensated. If this deal isn't an example of alignment between the planets and stars, I don't know what is.

Finally, the rumor mill is churning out in Cali where the Pac-12 has had some updates on its upcoming media rights deal and its potential plans for conference expansion.

Rumors began to circulate this week that San Diego State might be getting a call up to the big leagues with an invitation to join the Pac-12 as the conference explores rebounds following its messy breakup with sweethearts USC and UCLA. Conference officials shot down the news pretty quickly and stated that no expansion decisions would be considered until after a new long-term media rights deal was secured, but as I'll get to in a couple of paragraphs, a deal might be signed sooner rather than later.

As for the SDSU choice, many question the smaller school's fit. It would reinstate the conference's presence in SoCal, something which is vital for the other members of the conference hoping to recruit this hotbed of high school talent. However, it would come with a financial hit as the school certainly won't bring in the sort of revenue which would justify its jump from a numbers perspective.

Even now with USC and UCLA carrying much of the value load, each school only gets $28M in annual TV revenue from the conference pool, a number far smaller than the distributions of bigger conferences. Adding a school like SDSU won't increase Pac-12 viewers to the extent that it raises the conference's total revenue by a value of at least $28M, meaning that every school's slice of the revenue pie gets even smaller than the piece you get when you get stuck behind your grandpa at the Thanksgiving buffet line.

While perhaps not the most savvy financial decision, it does signal a fight for survival from Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff. Following the secession of Los Angeles, there were rumors that the conference could implode as Oregon, Washington, and just about every other conference member (apart form maybe Oregon State and Washington State? they're real ones for that) was being rumored to some combination of the Big 12 and Big Ten.

Aggressively adding teams, regardless of financial rationale, demonstrates leadership's commitment to existing members that it plans to do what it takes to remain a conference. This could help to rectify the shaky existing situation with the Oregons and Colorados that are being actively courted and poached with shiny images of dollar bills.

As an avid lover of the existing order within the CFB ranks, if adding the Aztecs is what it takes to keep the conference alive, bring on the Pac... 11?

It was also announced that negotiations are underway over which network gets the honor of airing #Pac12AfterDark for the foreseeable future, discussions which are expected to be cemented with pen hitting paper by early next year. Most notable about the deal is the collection of mouths at the table.

As alluded to a few months ago, streamers have realized this whole sports thing is pretty cool. Amazon opened the flood gates when it acquired the exclusive rights to the NFL's Thursday Night Football. Apart from the fact that everyone absolutely loved this (/s), it became clear that the move was only the beginning. Lo and behold, Bezos seems to be the type of guy that double dips at Mexican restaurants. The most likely deal for the Pac-12 looks to be a combo of ESPN and Amazon. 

The value per member school of this best of both worlds deal is expected to be close to $32 million which is on par with that achieved by the Big 12 when it signed an extension through 2031 on its existing deal with ESPN and Fox last month. The total value of the Big 12 deal with other sports and bonuses is likely to be much higher, though, given the latter conference's superiority in basketball.

More important than the payouts are the broadcast windows for each conference. Fans were not happy when they couldn't watch their favorite pro teams battle it out on TNF without a Prime subscription. While there are fewer Pac-12 fans than NFL ones (don't make a Pac-12 attendance joke, don't mak...), coaches and administrators might be even more upset given the importance of having a national audience for recruiting and general school publicity purposes.

It's likely that holdups over windowing decisions, such as which games ESPN shows (with consideration to the Big 12 games it has already committed to airing) or which time slots Amazon gets, are the biggest point of contention in the current round of negotiations.

Like Marvel trying to stay relevant post-Avengers, the Pac-12 is also facing a crisis of relevancy in the greater landscape of college football with the departure of its two biggest brands. Now, it is left ravaging for scraps with the Big 12 and even the ACC for as much of the SEC's and Big Ten's leftover value as possible in the new superconference era.

The hyped up "game of the year" in Athens was a dud. The Dawgs handled Tennessee with ease, coasting to an easier-than-the-score-indicates 27-13 win. The other big SEC matchup proved to be much more exciting when LSU managed to defend its home turf against Nick Saban and the Tide, causing earthquake-like readings in the process.

In what is perhaps the biggest crime since the first person that put pineapple on pizza, Bama is likely not even going to make the SEC Conference Championship with a roster led by Bryce Young and Will Anderson... The Xmas trees are already on the front lawn for both OC BOB and DC Pete Golding. Rankings movements:

• The Vols limped into the #5 spot after the brutal showing between the Hedges. The Dawgs replaced them at #1.

• #3 Michigan and #4 TCU finally crack the final field with some help elsewhere

• Just waiting on James to drop a TikTok for #9 Bama and #10 Clemson... what happeneduh?????

The season is winding down... Make sure to soak in every second of football you can tomorrow. Some highlights:

• #9 Bama @ #11 Ole Miss

• #22 UCF @ #17 Tulane

• #4 TCU @ #18 Texas

Can the Frog magic continue? Does Bama rebound? Did anyone predict that the true game of the week would be a matchup between American conference foes? I love this sport.

I would never condone sports betting or anything (omg no! don't do that 🤪), but if you're going to partake, get the best news and insights out there with the weekly email bringing you the stats and info that you need to get an edge over Vegas with the Playmaker Betting Newsletter!

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Cheers to another day,

Trey