You underestimate how many people have their identity tied to something as stupid as sports. Sports are the number one defining characteristic for a lot of people, as ridiculous as that is. Especially for most folks who don’t know a single player or coach and no one in the program has a clue who they are.
I think sports are fun to watch, but the way people allow it to become their sole most important factor is mind blowing to me. Go build something. Write a short story, read a book.
It will be interesting to watch this all play out. Population is about to start shrinking, new generations are less inclined to be sports fans, college costs have made attendance in colleges more difficult and the view that you have to have a degree is shifting - combine those dynamics with colleges walking away from regional foes and rivalries, NIL and portal activity and the just disregard to the impact to fans - there could be a reckoning coming. Not just in college but in all sports.
I was a HUGE NBA and NFL fan of course CLT. I have eliminated nearly all of it. Pretty much the only sport I am still invested in is English football. If you start losing a portion of Gen X and Mills while failing to build the next generation of fans - that will be impactful. It may take some time for cracks to show but ratings and attendance will start to suffer.
Im not saying they are going to go bankrupt - but NASCAR is a good example of what can happen. Hell even MLB - which at one time was THE sport. At the end of the day, people don’t need sports of any kind.
When the hornets left it taught me its stupid to get emotionally attached to american prosports. I paid for my daughter to do a panthers cheer camp and then was told I had to buy my own tickets to the game - it wasnt included and of course that was like $500 plus and that taught me how absolutely ridiculous the NFL is. Paying hundreds to watch millionaires play a game to make billionaires more money. Add into that the politics and safety issues. And now college basically telling fans to F off and destroying what made college special.
The pandemic taught me I can live without sports. I don’t live vicariously through sports like I maybe did when I was younger. My opinion now is that you have be a complete sucker to donate a dime to college athletics. No offense to anybody, just my mindset.
Let it all blow up, I’ll be fine
clt will bet and donate to our program
NIL gets zero cash
The pandemic did that for me too.
I wont donate a dime to revenue sports anymore. I have moved all my donations to sports with kids that are still playing for the love of the sports and school. The rest can F off.
If the US had adapted a promotion relegation model would that have changed your outlook?
I still think that’s the biggest mistake the power brokers of US soccer made.
By not implementing pro rel.
Pro Rel probably would have kept me interested in college sports for sure.
The nature of pro sports here really lacks the connection with the community. Here it really is one way. Fans love a franchise but the franchise and the owner at the end of the day don’t give a F about the fans or the city, its just about money. Which is why our teams can up and move and fleece tax payers. Compare that with euro soccer where clubs dont leave - ever. They are part of the community. My team offered a free beer to everyone in the stands to celebrate being promoted. They offered to offset hotel costs when an away match was moved due to TV reasons. It is just such a different approach. Our owners would NEVER do that.
I was just talking to a friend about the Green Bay ownership model and how that really should be the ownership model for every Pro franchise in the United States. These teams should be considered public trusts and owned by the community instead of a few dozen rich, mercenary assholes.
What if you had to purchase at least one share of stock in the community ownership company of the franchise in order to purchase season tickets? Then these franchises really would be your team. Literally.
I also think that ownership model would promote the ability to do relegation/ promotion.
Here’s Art Chansky, as big a Chapel Hill hack as has ever lived, fretting that the Tar Heels can’t keep up in the NIL era:
He’s doing a good job of laying the groundwork for CH to leave the ACC. “We had no choice.”
clt says to be fair, UNC CHeat does send a lot of our tax dollars to fake classes
Good old title 9 rearing its ugly head.
The 50+1 rule is also a good model in my opinion since it makes sure that the fans are the majority owners of the team instead of just one owner. it was basically one of the major road blocks in stopping the attempt of creating the soccer super league since the league couldn’t get any german teams to join without the full support of the german team fans they were eyeing to target.
