Paying College Athletes

Let's not be naive, college athletes are getting paid. While they may not be getting an hourly wage or bimonthly paychecks, they are receiving benefits for what they do. These include non-monetary benefits like tuition, room and board, health insurance, and on the job training (coaching). Some even receive monetary benefits in the form of stipends.

Often you hear hear the repeated call to the top college athletes more because they produce more revenue for the university. Once you start providing actual wages to student-athletes there are many issues that need to be dealt with. Taxes, Title IX, strikes, and the continual incentive to receive illegal payments.

So what is the solution? A former agent who admittedly paid student-athletes illegally has a solution. It seems simple and merits consideration. Here is the Link.

How to win a Super Bowl

With Super Bowl weekend fast approaching, I have thought what Indianapolis do to win the bid to host the Big Game. Jerry Jones built a $1 billion stadium with the sports world's largest big screen TV, and as a result was awarded the Super Bowl. But not every city can build a Texas-sized stadium, so what do they do to win the Super Bowl?

These two articles provide interesting insight into what cities have done in the recent years:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/29/sports/football/super-bowl-eighth-graders-helped-indianapolis-land-game.html

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/how-a-super-bowl-city-is-chosen.html

Super Bowl Ratings

So you wanted the Harbaugh Bowl? While sibling rivalries are really fun to put on a national stage, is that what the suits at the National Football League office wanted? If this was the NBA or MLB, the conspiracy theorists would be shouting from the tops of very tall buildings. And people might lend an ear to them, but conspiracy theorists have no room at the table in the NFL. While the NBA or MLB rely heavily on the matchups in the championship series to drive TV ratings, the NFL does not rely on the matchups to drive the ratings.

The Neilson Company shows that the most watched television shows of all-time, and the recent Super Bowls top the list.

Program	Date	Network	Avg. # of Viewers (000)
Super Bowl XLV	February 6, 2011	FOX	111,010
Super Bowl XLIV	February 7, 2010	CBS	106,476
M*A*S*H Special	February 28, 1983	CBS	105,970
Super Bowl XLIII	February 1, 2009	NBC	98,732
Super Bowl XLII	February 3, 2008	FOX	97,448
Super Bowl XXX	January 28, 1996	NBC	94,076

The Giants vs. Patriots matchup in 2008 was understandably a record setting matchup. The Patriots were looking to become the first team to finish an entire season undefeated since the 1972 Dolphins. They had just beaten the Giants in the last week of the regular season. Tom Brady was striving for perfection. But in his way was Peyton’s little brother. It became the most viewed Super Bowl of all time.

The next year could be argued was a down year in terms of media markets making the Super Bowl. The Cardinals representing the (602) are the 15^th largest media market. Pittsburgh is the 23^rd largest market, nothing like the previous year with NY (1^st) and Boston (9^th). But that game set higher records than the previous year’s game.

In 2010, a couple other small market teams faced each other. Imagine the ratings in the NBA Finals if the Pacers played the Hornets. Talk about a media nightmare. But the Colts vs. Saints set another record of viewership based for a Super Bowl. In fact, this game became the most watched television program of all time.

In 2011, in $1 billion Jerry World (also known as Cowboy Stadium), a new record was set. The matchup between the Green Bay Packers (118^th in media market size) played the Pittsburgh Steelers. Again, another record.

Why is it that the NFL can continually post record setting TV ratings? The NFL differs between the two franchises by sharing all media revenues equally across teams. This allows these small market teams, often historic franchises, to compete with the large market franchises. The NBA and MLB allow teams to sign exclusive media deals in addition to league wide contracts. Thus the Yankees, Red Sox, and Mets capture huge revenues from media rights while other teams based in small markets are left struggling for local media revenues. As such, these leagues need large market teams to make the championship games to capture the television ratings. But not the NFL. And because of the number of viewers who watch the big game, we all can enjoy the ads.