Everyone knows I like the data and there are tons of things you could look at with what is going on in college football. Nothing happens in a vacuum. However, the number of eyes on TVs and streaming devices seems to be carrying the day right now, so I went to sportsmediawatch.com (again) and put together some numbers, this time average viewers per team each season and over the last 3 seasons.
Disclaimer; sportsmediawatch.com isn't able to track many of the conference networks or third tier viewer options. They do have BTN from the last 2 seasons, but there are no ACC Network or SEC Network numbers available, so keep that in mind. I'll give some context at the end with the number of games per team for some teams that aren't frequently on the "major" networks or the ESPNs.
I took all the available data and sorted it out per team. Yes, you could add in networks and time slots, but I was most curious about average viewers per school in the last 3 seasons. And yes, last year was a bit funky with COVID and a wide variety of games played by different schools.
2018 Data:
2019 Data:
2020 Data:
3 Year Average Data:
Schools with 15 or fewer games on ABC, CBS, NBC, ESPN (not including +), FOX, FS1, and BTN (last 2 seasons).
Looking at the numbers, I don't think 4 super/power conferences can make it with the pool of money available if these schools want 50-60 mil each, which is where the BIG and SEC are at. As many have already mentioned, purging will likely happen and at some point a new tier/division of football. The thing is, this isn't unprecedented, it's just different and more dramatic now. The evolution of 1-A and 1-AA in the late 70s would be an example of a time in the past when the landscape changed dramatically. The 20s/30s (when the "major" conferences formed) through post WW2 would be another time of dramatic change; just check out some 30s final top 20 polls and see the teams that no longer play or aren't close to FBS now.
I'm not sure what will happen, but I'm fairly a change will be coming in the next few years. I hope K-State isn't completely left out or that it doesn't change the college/academics as we know them now. I'm going to hope for the best, but realize that what we experienced over the last 30 years may very well be the peak experience in college football for K-State as a major conference player.
Disclaimer; sportsmediawatch.com isn't able to track many of the conference networks or third tier viewer options. They do have BTN from the last 2 seasons, but there are no ACC Network or SEC Network numbers available, so keep that in mind. I'll give some context at the end with the number of games per team for some teams that aren't frequently on the "major" networks or the ESPNs.
I took all the available data and sorted it out per team. Yes, you could add in networks and time slots, but I was most curious about average viewers per school in the last 3 seasons. And yes, last year was a bit funky with COVID and a wide variety of games played by different schools.
2018 Data:
2019 Data:
2020 Data:
3 Year Average Data:
Schools with 15 or fewer games on ABC, CBS, NBC, ESPN (not including +), FOX, FS1, and BTN (last 2 seasons).
Looking at the numbers, I don't think 4 super/power conferences can make it with the pool of money available if these schools want 50-60 mil each, which is where the BIG and SEC are at. As many have already mentioned, purging will likely happen and at some point a new tier/division of football. The thing is, this isn't unprecedented, it's just different and more dramatic now. The evolution of 1-A and 1-AA in the late 70s would be an example of a time in the past when the landscape changed dramatically. The 20s/30s (when the "major" conferences formed) through post WW2 would be another time of dramatic change; just check out some 30s final top 20 polls and see the teams that no longer play or aren't close to FBS now.
I'm not sure what will happen, but I'm fairly a change will be coming in the next few years. I hope K-State isn't completely left out or that it doesn't change the college/academics as we know them now. I'm going to hope for the best, but realize that what we experienced over the last 30 years may very well be the peak experience in college football for K-State as a major conference player.
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