•  
  •  
 
Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

First Page

461

Abstract

Vice Chancellor Williams:

Let me start -this is really a discussion, or a panel that deals with the BCS and conference alignment. So why don't we just jump right in it, and I think the first question that I would like to ask is --we'll throw it up, really I think I'd like to go to both Mike and Gary on this --why are we seeing all the movement around of the schools from conference to conference? What is this all about?

Gary Roberts:

That's 95% of it. It is schools trying to reposition themselves better in their industry, which is largely driven by an effort to increase your revenues. Boston College and Miami and Virginia Tech thought they were in a better position, for a variety of reasons, to make more money in the Atlantic Coast Conference; the Atlantic Coast Conference thought it, as a conference --because it could now have a football championship --was certainly strengthened by those schools, so it can make more money. That sort of left the Big East hanging out there to dry, so they went after schools from the next conference down on the food chain, which was our Conference USA, and they picked off Louisville and Cincinnati and South Florida; those schools wanted to go to the Big East because it's a BCS conference and Conference USA isn't --money. So there are some realignments that I think are to some extent driven by --at least in part --some other factors --natural rivalries and what have you. I'm still trying to figure out why TCU went to the Mountain West, that's just a total mystery to me. So some of these movements are not explainable solely on the basis of money, but most of them are just a desire to position yourself to increase your revenues.

Download

Share

COinS