I'm not trying to bring up bad memories, but...

[lionheartkc 6,150]

Just now, Tiger said:

I think there is more financial incentive to push a team towards the playoffs than to appease a certain fan base. Bama fans will buy all the houndstooth that their budget allows regardless if the team is in the playoffs or not. JMO of course. Maybe my ear isn't as close to the ground on this type of stuff though.

My point is if the SEC decides to go after bama and ends up making the team backed by their most active fan base irrelevant, they are shooting themselves in the financial foot. You can bet that, when they are negotiating TV contracts, they are using the rabid nature of the couch bound bama fan as leverage to get more money. The same can be said about several other financial streams, including, as you mentioned, the purchase of anything and everything printed in the incorrectly adopted houndstooth pattern.

While there certainly is a one time financial bump for post season play, the bigger concern is the long term continued income from certain teams.  At this point, the SEC could probably afford to lose the income from Vanderbilt (talk about a cheap fan base), but that's about it. Still, bama is their cash cow, championships or not, so they are going to get preferential treatment and kept out of harms way as best they can. 

[Tiger 8,817]

1 minute ago, lionheartkc said:

My point is if the SEC decides to go after bama and ends up making the team backed by their most active fan base irrelevant, they are shooting themselves in the financial foot. You can bet that, when they are negotiating TV contracts, they are using the rabid nature of the couch bound bama fan as leverage to get more money. The same can be said about several other financial streams, including, as you mentioned, the purchase of anything and everything printed in the incorrectly adopted houndstooth pattern.

While there certainly is a one time financial bump for post season play, the bigger concern is the long term continued income from certain teams.  At this point, the SEC could probably afford to lose the income from Vanderbilt (talk about a cheap fan base), but that's about it. Still, bama is their cash cow, championships or not, so they are going to get preferential treatment and kept out of harms way as best they can. 

I wasn't thinking about the TV stuff. That's a good point. They certainly are using Bama's success as a negotiating tool in those meetings because even outside of Alabama fans or even the SEC footprint people like watching them play. Whether it's because they have been great, want to see them fall, want to see Saban, or just like top SEC games Bama brings lots of value from that perspective.

[keesler 5,922]

IMO, Let the SEC continue to pimp out UAT to get better TV contracts for the conference AND let UAT keep winning championships.  The SEC is an equal profit sharing conference and if one team wants to put that burden on their back to attract better TV deals and bring in revenue from championships then Auburn University will sit back and haul in the money they generate.  Then MAYBE one day we'll get to see that JHS renovation Jay Jacobs has been promising us for years.