All Things COVID-19 College Football Impact

No, the conference could unilaterally give its blessing to a football season for all schools that are able and willing to participate. I promise you that the big time football schools will play. Fans in the stands is something that still has to be hammered out, but the games will be on TV.

Is Minnesota going to be a big time football school? We will see.

Why are you quoting me and acting like we are disagreeing? The post I responded to predicted that either all the conference teams would play or that none would and that it would be the conference that would "unilaterally" decide that everyone was in or everyone was out. You saying the conference could "unilaterally" give its blessing to a season "for all schools that are able and willing" isn't contrary to what I said. You are advocating the same position that I am: the conference might decide to have a football season for the conference members that want to participate. If it does, that might include all members, it might not.
 

I don't think it's that simple. What drives the BTN gravy train? Cable/Satellite/Streaming service fees. Lots of Minnesota fans pay into that. The Big 10 could sill give Minnesota (or any other current school) a taste to keep them a viable conference partner both long and short term.
Of course you are correct. There would certainly be significant adjustments to the distribution and far more money would flow to the schools which are participating, but the conference wouldn't strip any member institution of their funding over something like this. The strength of the Big Ten compared to the other major conferences is its unparalleled commitment to the collective good of the members. MplsGopher likes to make bold proclamations and to speak in absolutes, but ultimately he'll tell you that any reasonable person would know that "stripped" means reduced, not totally taken away.
 

Not that I'm an expert on this at all, but if your talking illinois because of the coronavirus cases in the state, most likely the Champaign area is going to be in decent shape by august. Northwestern might be a different story as they are in chicago area!
 

I don't think it's that simple. What drives the BTN gravy train? Cable/Satellite/Streaming service fees. Lots of Minnesota fans pay into that. The Big 10 could sill give Minnesota (or any other current school) a taste to keep them a viable conference partner both long and short term.
Ok, that is a fair point. You got me on the bolded. I don't know about "lots", that is a relative term, but certainly the Twin Cities media market is one of the largest in the western Big Ten footprint.

Counter-points: 1) pay TV subscribers are going down, and 2) Minnesota subscribers are not likely to tune into BTN to watch Ohio St play Akron. Major conf games will still likely be on ESPN/2 or FS1, or ABC or FOX.

So I think it will be a very minuscule taste compared to if the Gophers do fulfill their contractual obligations by participating in the football season.


As for the idea of altruism, again maybe a bit, but at a steep discount.


Lastly, keep in mind that the total payment from the Big Ten ($50M or so) includes all revenue sources that go to the conference. That's: BTN, the conference ESPN/FOX TV deal (which does not factor subscriber fees), the CFP TV deal with ESPN, and March Madness payments.

You're only talking about the BTN portion, which I don't know what piece of the pie that is.
 

Of course you are correct. There would certainly be significant adjustments to the distribution and far more money would flow to the schools which are participating, but the conference wouldn't strip any member institution of their funding over something like this. The strength of the Big Ten compared to the other major conferences is its unparalleled commitment to the collective good of the members. MplsGopher likes to make bold proclamations and to speak in absolutes, but ultimately he'll tell you that any reasonable person would know that "stripped" means reduced, not totally taken away.
I chose the wrong word, that's my mistake. I meant to say reduced.
 


Not that I'm an expert on this at all, but if your talking illinois because of the coronavirus cases in the state, most likely the Champaign area is going to be in decent shape by august. Northwestern might be a different story as they are in chicago area!
But it's the governor in each state with the emergency powers. So far, I'm not aware of any Big Ten states that are allowing piecemeal reopening by county or region. Not saying it can't happen.
 

Just on news in chicago, chancellor at university of illinois said students should expect to be on campus in some form in fall.
 

But it's the governor in each state with the emergency powers. So far, I'm not aware of any Big Ten states that are allowing piecemeal reopening by county or region. Not saying it can't happen.
True, but in illinois were going by regions and every region will be moving to next phase starting may 31st except for chicago region. My guess is that central illinois region will be a go by august. Chicago area not so sure.
 

True, but in illinois were going by regions and every region will be moving to next phase starting may 31st except for chicago region. My guess is that central illinois region will be a go by august. Chicago area not so sure.
Did not know that's how Illinois was doing it, thanks for the info. Also your post above that we can add Illinois to the list of schools that will be "open" in some respects.
 



Look, it's not like the U has to go full monty here. Just allows students back on campus, and in labs/discussions/etc at a minimum. Lectures can stay online.

That's enough to justify allowing student-athletes to use university facilities to train and compete in sports.
 

Did not know that's how Illinois was doing it, thanks for the info. Also your post above that we can add Illinois to the list of schools that will be "open" in some respects.
Yeah, but pritzger is not budging with anything, so nothing is set in stone, but my guess would be they will have students on campus.
 

Look, it's not like the U has to go full monty here. Just allows students back on campus, and in labs/discussions/etc at a minimum. Lectures can stay online.

That's enough to justify allowing student-athletes to use university facilities to train and compete in sports.
Yeah exactly! There has to be a way to get this done.
 

Ok, that is a fair point. You got me on the bolded. I don't know about "lots", that is a relative term, but certainly the Twin Cities media market is one of the largest in the western Big Ten footprint.

Counter-points: 1) pay TV subscribers are going down, and 2) Minnesota subscribers are not likely to tune into BTN to watch Ohio St play Akron. Major conf games will still likely be on ESPN/2 or FS1, or ABC or FOX.

So I think it will be a very minuscule taste compared to if the Gophers do fulfill their contractual obligations by participating in the football season.


As for the idea of altruism, again maybe a bit, but at a steep discount.


Lastly, keep in mind that the total payment from the Big Ten ($50M or so) includes all revenue sources that go to the conference. That's: BTN, the conference ESPN/FOX TV deal (which does not factor subscriber fees), the CFP TV deal with ESPN, and March Madness payments.

You're only talking about the BTN portion, which I don't know what piece of the pie that is.

All good points. Even ESPN/Fox though, the eyeballs drive up the ad revenue etc.

Just saying anything is possible, short or long term if a conference wants to stay in whatever market. Full share, reduced share (small, large, whatever), loan against future earnings, reduced schedule, etc.
 



Colleges Host Spring ball in the Fall and Games are played in the spring this year
 

I posted the link to the state numbers above. Do you see anything there that leads you to believe the worst is yet to come? I’m not just talking about a few days with slightly higher numbers.

BTW, I knew what you meant by “peak.” it’s possible that point has already been reached, and we’ll just see relatively flat numbers, as the nursing homes continue to ravaged by the virus.

Peak deaths are projected to be 2 weeks out, peak actual infections are estimated to be about now, and confirmed infections are still increasing daily.

Compare that to somewhere like Michigan where deaths, estimated cases, and confirmed cases all peaked a month ago: https://covid19.healthdata.org/united-states-of-america/michigan

I'm wondering if the talk about Minnesota not playing while most other schools play is based on where we are in the curve.
 

Colleges Host Spring ball in the Fall and Games are played in the spring this year
No. That would just screw up 2021 then, and so on.

Football will either happen in the fall, in some form, or it will be cancelled. There is no such thing as spring college football.
 


I could go for home and home series amongst the quadrangle of hate teams.
 

Walz lifted the stay at home order, effective 5/18 for retail and non-essential businesses. Bars, restaurants, and salons to reopen 6/1 If all goes well the previous two weeks. And he said we have “unlimited” testing capability. There’s actually a brand new drive in testing site right by my house.

I think these are very positive developments.
 

No. That would just screw up 2021 then, and so on.

Football will either happen in the fall, in some form, or it will be cancelled. There is no such thing as spring college football.

Disagree. If CFB can have a season, at any time, they will. There’s way too much money on the line for every part involved, and many will need it to stay solvent.
 

Disagree. If CFB can have a season, at any time, they will. There’s way too much money on the line for every part involved, and many will need it to stay solvent.
I agree with this. The gravy train is way to big to not have something. And say what you want, but people are 100% going to watch a college season if its in Feb/March. Imagine this scenario: 4 Sweet 16 basketball games Thursday, 4 Friday, 2 CFB playoff games Saturday, 4 elite 8 basketball games Sunday The following week they have the final 4 Friday, Champ bball game sunday and Champ football game Monday. At that point all they are fighting is early MLB stuff and mid season NBA. They would make up a TON of money in those 2 weekends.
 

It’s a moot point, if there ever was one.

There will be (college) football this fall.
 

It should be Minnesota’s #1 priority to have its public universities be open this Fall (with reasonable precautions). And they should be socializing those plans right now.

They need to be talking very confidently about all of their plans for re-opening for the 2020-2021 school year.

This isn’t the Spanish flu; risk of death to those under the age of 30 is nearly zero, and that generation has been sidelined over this long enough already.
 

It should be Minnesota’s #1 priority to have its public universities be open this Fall (with reasonable precautions). And they should be socializing those plans right now.

They need to be talking very confidently about all of their plans for re-opening for the 2020-2021 school year.

This isn’t the Spanish flu; risk of death to those under the age of 30 is nearly zero, and that generation has been sidelined over this long enough already.

Wouldn't shock me if they are waiting on the Governor to eliminate the stay at home order before they announce any real plans for the fall. Some of the chips have started falling and I know everyone is antsy but there is still time to work with here. The day is approaching where firm decisions for the fall will have to be made but it is still just the middle of May.
 

They've already been working on a plan to reopen campus. They're calling it their "sunrise" plan. As MNVCGUY says, once the governor gives the OK, and firm(er) dates can be put in place for the phases of the plan, then it will be annouced.
 

Lot of news coming out of colleges over the past few days. Nothing definitive but starting to see some movement finally in terms of what the plans for the fall are going to look like.
Saw an interview with president of the U of Arizona yesterday. He is a Physician and plans on opening up in the fall with an aggressive testing and tracking system. He said they have around 60,000 students and faculty they will have to manage. It seemed to be another good option for what we know is a much lower risk population.
 

Saw an interview with president of the U of Arizona yesterday. He is a Physician and plans on opening up in the fall with an aggressive testing and tracking system. He said they have around 60,000 students and faculty they will have to manage. It seemed to be another good option for what we know is a much lower risk population.
Will the old instructors do their lectures and advising behind plexiglass walls? Many of the kids are not at risk (except for all those with compromised immune systems (the Casey O'Brian's of the world). Those kids who are at risk will need alternative learning options to keep them safe while they attend school.
Having some hybrid mix between traditional face to face and online courses seems like a viable option.
Ultimately, however, fear of litigation in a lawsuit may win out over common sense. It just takes one compromised student to get gravely ill and start a lawsuit to bring the U to its knees.
 

Will the old instructors do their lectures and advising behind plexiglass walls? Many of the kids are not at risk (except for all those with compromised immune systems (the Casey O'Brian's of the world). Those kids who are at risk will need alternative learning options to keep them safe while they attend school.
Having some hybrid mix between traditional face to face and online courses seems like a viable option.
Ultimately, however, fear of litigation in a lawsuit may win out over common sense. It just takes one compromised student to get gravely ill and start a lawsuit to bring the U to its knees.
Frankly, a lecture is a lecture. And most times there is so much information to get out in one 50min session, and so many students, that questions and answers aren't really practical during the lecture, even though they're often "encouraged". Maybe a few questions is fine, but if there are many longer questions, it quickly bogs things down.

So, I actually think -- for lectures -- that online might be the way to go, moving forward, anyway.

The big value with in-person education comes from the rest of it: labs, discussion/recitation groups, hands-on learning sessions (thinking nursing, medical, law practicing, etc.), and small group or one-on-one meetings with TA's and profs.


As far as suing, can a student who dies in a car wreck sue the University because they were on their way to a class? Of course not. There is some risk inherent in life. Now, you can try to prove negligence on the U's part, but that will be very, very difficult as the U will leave no stone unturned there, to make sure they do as much diligence as they possibly can.
 

True, but in illinois were going by regions and every region will be moving to next phase starting may 31st except for chicago region. My guess is that central illinois region will be a go by august. Chicago area not so sure.

That is particularly good news in that I thought Democratic governors would be particularly reluctant to open one part of a state while their core voting block area remained closed. Excellent, momentum is really moving our way!
 

Frankly, a lecture is a lecture. And most times there is so much information to get out in one 50min session, and so many students, that questions and answers aren't really practical during the lecture, even though they're often "encouraged". Maybe a few questions is fine, but if there are many longer questions, it quickly bogs things down.

So, I actually think -- for lectures -- that online might be the way to go, moving forward, anyway.

The big value with in-person education comes from the rest of it: labs, discussion/recitation groups, hands-on learning sessions (thinking nursing, medical, law practicing, etc.), and small group or one-on-one meetings with TA's and profs.


As far as suing, can a student who dies in a car wreck sue the University because they were on their way to a class? Of course not. There is some risk inherent in life. Now, you can try to prove negligence on the U's part, but that will be very, very difficult as the U will leave no stone unturned there, to make sure they do as much diligence as they possibly can.

Hey, but when I was younger I would absolutely have missed watching the pretty girls moving up and down the aisles to get to their seats!
 




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