CUSA Expansion/Media Package rumors

More rumors about the rumors...

The unknown media partner is supposedly Turner, which wants to get involved in college sports. Rather than get in a bidding war over an upper tier league, their plan is to negotiate a deal for a "low-end" G5 conference and build it up until it's worth something. Turner's Atlanta connections explain the interest in including KSU.

Sounds simple enough, until you try to find what networks might be involved.

Turner is held by Warner Bros Discovery. The only three networks currently under the actual "Turner" unit (collectively called the "T-Nets" within WBD) are TBS, TNT, and TruTV.

Now, if WBD is the potential partner, and not merely one of their child companies, then that would suggest the soon-to-be-combined Discovery+/HBO Max streaming service could be a player in this. And one would think that TNT Sports would be involved, since "sports" is in the name.

TNT Sports, btw, is not actually one of the T-Nets. It's under a totally separate Sports unit, which also features Motor Trend Group, AT&T SportsNet, and Eurosport, among others.

Also, WBD is based in NYC, not Atlanta, so their interest in KSU would be minimal at best.

If there is any truth to this rumor, depending how it all shakes out with the primary and secondary rights and exactly which WBD networks would be involved, it could be a good thing. WBD/Turner's basic cable channels are widely available on most cable, satellite, and streaming services, and the Discovery+/HBO Max merger could set them up as a major competitor of the Mouse, so we're not talking about some fringe streaming service no one's ever heard of. The downside, though, is that (AFAIK) there isn't an OTA broadcaster affiliated with WBD. Doesn't matter to me, since I have to stream everything, but I know a lot of people closer in to cities who prefer to watch free OTA broadcasts.

I do like the part about them wanting to "build" a conference up. That could be a very, very good thing for Jax State.

BTW, the 3rd-tier streaming rights I believe would still go to ESPN+. I remember seeing that somewhere in another rumor, so you know it's got to be true.

I was hoping they'd wait 2-3 years before expanding again to give us and Sam a chance to get fully transitioned. But if we can get a media deal that puts games where you don't have to subscribe to Steve's favorite channel then so be it.

The downside on expanding is that we have to draw from FCS. I honestly don't see anyone from the Sun Belt moving over. The MAC is a compact bus league so that certainly isn't happening.

I think going to more than 12 is a mistake. If we are a one bid league it makes each slice of the pie smaller.

Would someone leave? If the MWC loses anyone they might call UTEP or MTSU. Both would fit in there. I just hope either both leave or both stay. If only one leaves we have an FIU situation where someone is a million miles away with no chance of finding a neighbor for them.

Our only hope for FIU is that the AAC decides they want to go to 16 and add them to help FAU. Nothing against FIU but they are on an island and I'm sure they would like to be in a league with FAU as well.

WKU had a spot in the MAC but MTSU wasn't interested in going with them. I think UMASS turned them down for full membership as well.

With the league as spread out as it is it helps if you have a neighbor. It builds a rivalry and boosts ticket sales to visiting fans. Right now we only have two pairs: MTSU/WKU and UTEP/NMSU. So they are good and don't need help right now. So while EKU would be a good fit they really don't help the league from a structural standpoint.

Kennesaw and UTC would be good fits. Either one would be fine with me. I don't know how much pushback UTC would get from the mothership if they wanted to move up. I also question fan support and facilities. They also don't sponsor baseball. Kennesaw would need to expand their football stadium.

I think SFA would be a good addition as well. It gives Sammy an old rival and neighbor.

On the fence about the other JSU. It would be a neighbor for LaTech but how would they do if they left the SWAC? Would fans turn out for non-"classic" games.

Not much we can do to help Liberty or FIU.

Just a hard no on any of the suggestions on FB only for NDSU and friends. Same on a non-FB member. We left that hybrid crap behind in FCS.

According to my maps app it is 107 miles.

Looks like Kennesaw is headed to CUSA in 2024. So we are getting our neighbor, one we already have a rivalry with that is just a couple hours away.

Turner and KSU. It's making sense now.

I don't agree with your explicit list of teams, but I agree 100% with your guiding philosophy: Get to 12 teams, with two solid regional divisions, and stay there until we need to plug holes.

I disagree with the idea of blowing up to 14-16 teams just so we'll be "ready" in case of Realignment Apocalypse 2.0. This to me seems to be INVITING teams to leave, since we'd inevitably weaken the conference by adding so many FCS teams at once.

WKU's not happy. MTSU is content, but has their eyes firmly set on the AAC. Liberty would give anything to be in the AAC (as a step up) or the SBC (to be among their regional rivals).

But suppose JSU, SHSU, and KSU come in strong (a la JMU in the Belt). Suppose recent coaching hires at NMSU and FIU pay off and those teams become competitive again. Suppose strong rivalries develop between MTSU and JSU & KSU, and between WKU and JSU & Liberty. Suppose the new media deal is actually pretty sweet, both financially and for viewers. Suppose CUSA24 lands multiple bowl bids, and comes out ahead in most (if not all) of those games, setting us squarely ahead of or equal to the MAC, the Belt, and even the AAC and MWC. Suppose CUSA23 basketball is as strong as it promises to be, and we become a multi-bid league, awash in NCAA Tourney payouts. Suppose fan excitement grows to an all-time high. (In CUSA, the bar for that is admittedly low.)

Then, other G5 conferences come calling again. Does WKU want to leave now? Does MTSU? Liberty may still be torn, but only because of those regional rivals. (Similarly, FIU might jump at an AAC invite to be among south Florida teams, and UTEP/NMSU might love to be in a conference based in the Mountain Time Zone.) But losing those teams on the extreme edges could be a plus, making CUSA24 even better for fan excitement.

And if all that came to pass, CUSA might be strong enough that poaching an unhappy Belt team (or even an AAC team) might suddenly be a realistic idea. (It's currently not realistic at all, but I'm talking about 3-5 years from now.)

Don't mistake me here. I'm not trying to say CUSA24 is going to punch itself into the P5 and become a rival to the SEC. Anyone who says that is either trolling or delusional.

What I *am* saying is that CUSA24 could accidentally end up being way better than people expect. And if that happens, by the time the next round of realignment happens, we won't enter it from the position of weakness where we currently find ourselves. If things go really well, we could actually be one of the beneficiaries of the falling dominoes, rather than a victim.