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PT Barnum has a new idea, and it’s about college sports, which is fitting considering college sports are a bit of a circus.
With all due respect, it wasn’t Burnham who came up with this brilliant new idea to squeeze more money out of idiots. It was Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark.
I sometimes confuse the two.
Yormark’s Big 12 is considering selling the conference’s naming rights in a move that could generate tens of millions of dollars in revenue annually, according to multiple reports.
The Action Network’s Brett McMurphy reported that the Allstate 12 Conference is the leading candidate for the conference’s new name if a deal with the insurance giant is reached.
This isn’t surprising: Yormark is pushing the envelope and making deals that other commissioners won’t, or at least haven’t yet.
That said, Yormark previously envisioned a “Big 12 Mexico” and plans to bring Big 12 games across the border in several sports, including men’s and women’s basketball and, potentially, football.
Already, universities are selling naming rights to their stadiums. Bowl games are sponsored. College football fields are starting to feature corporate sponsorship logos. Sponsored jersey patches could be next. Even some coaching positions generate revenue through donations. Troy Taylor may be known as Stanford’s football coach, but technically he’s the Bradford M. Freeman Director of Football.
In college sports, anything goes to make money.
The SEC and Big Ten are using new media rights deals to further extend their financial lead, while the Big 12 and ACC are trying to catch up. On the other hand, universities will likely be forced to share revenue with their athletes starting in 2025, which will represent a new expense of more than $20 million per year. These developments have universities and conferences reassessing their budgets and scrambling for new revenue streams.
If you need more money, you can either save or create a new source of income.
Remember the last time a college athletics association tried to save money? Many speculated that further savings would be expected due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Then Tennessee offered Jeremy Pruitt a raise and contract extension, and Auburn accepted a $21 million buyout and fired Gus Malzahn, who had never had a losing season.
Stingy? Haha. No major Division I athletic department would tolerate that. They’d be better off rejecting the bill.
Selling the conference’s naming rights wouldn’t be a crazy idea, and it wouldn’t betray the Big 12’s rich history. The conference grew out of the Big Eight, four of which are now based in other conferences. For many years, the Big 12 operated with 10 member teams.
So is Allstate 12 really that strange?
This wasn’t Barnum’s only million-dollar idea. (Sorry, Yomark. I said it again.)
CBS Sports reported that the Big 12 Conference is considering bringing in private equity to sell a 15% to 20% stake in the conference to a Luxembourg-based investment firm.
Oh, and yes, Luxembourg is known as an enthusiastic supporter of American college sports.
Next up is Big 12 Luxembourg, where Burnham will be promoting the idea of a sponsored handball match on the other side of the Atlantic.
Blake Toppmeyer is the SEC columnist for the USA TODAY Network. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter. FollowAlso, check out his podcast, “SEC Football Unfiltered.”
