What do we value?

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That’s crazy talk!

patrick-star-crazy-talk.gif
 

I generally like Fleck, and I think he's a good guy who recruits good guys.

But I've been quite clear. Back up a truck full of hookers and blow and Ferraris and scour the prison system for players if it means winning championships.
 


Having the billionaire benefactor doesn't mean you automatically win. Texas Tech got schooled.
Alabama didn't win every year under Saban. Ohio State did get one but gets spanked often...Miami recently and Michigan with Harbaugh.
So, I think PJ would give us an even chance with better assistants and much better players.
He'd keep his culture and it'd be even more fun to be a Gopher fan. Find the money and give PJ a chance.
 





USAF said:
If this team won multiple national titles there isn't a single person here who would object in the slightest.

/thread
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If the team consisted of a bunch of criminals? Hell yes, I would object.
 




Interesting premise that is completely within the current FB landscape. Sadly so in many respects but this is 2026 and not 1961.

Since we now have a billionaire benefactor willing to shell it out, I'd like to run the experiment keeping the current HC, open the checkbook, and rowing with a Hustler 39 Shotgun and see what Coach Fleck could do. Worst that could happen is the program runs aground and billionaire goes to the "next coach up" to see if that makes a difference?

Whether RTB, F.A.M.I.L.Y, and PJ Fleck's concept of football culture could survive these conditions is an unknown but worth a try IMHO.

As an aside, the clock is ticking on the big money from the TV, cable, and advertising contracts where streaming platforms will not be the answer. Cable and satellite households are now down to 50-60 million depending on what AI you ask...maybe even lower.

While the battleground at present is on the NIL side, it is the revenue sharing side that is not sustainable as currently construed. I'd say 15 years at best to relative collapse if not sooner. That's where this billionaire scenario could mean relevance or mediocrity at that point in the future.
 


BilldGopher said:
Interesting premise that is completely within the current FB landscape. Sadly so in many respects but this is 2026 and not 1961.

Since we now have a billionaire benefactor willing to shell it out, I'd like to run the experiment keeping the current HC, open the checkbook, and rowing with a Hustler 39 Shotgun and see what Coach Fleck could do. Worst that could happen is the program runs aground and billionaire goes to the "next coach up" to see if that makes a difference?

Whether RTB, F.A.M.I.L.Y, and PJ Fleck's concept of football culture could survive these conditions is an unknown but worth a try IMHO.

As an aside, the clock is ticking on the big money from the TV, cable, and advertising contracts where streaming platforms will not be the answer. Cable and satellite households are now down to 50-60 million depending on what AI you ask...maybe even lower.

While the battleground at present is on the NIL side, it is the revenue sharing side that is not sustainable as currently construed. I'd say 15 years at best to relative collapse if not sooner. That's where this billionaire scenario could mean relevance or mediocrity at that point in the future.
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What's going to replace streaming? I agree there will be some sort of consolidation or coalescing to a handful of streaming platforms...
 




boozer said:
if anyone believes this isn’t already the case I have beachfront property in Kansas to sell you
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General College during the Warmath era was a landing spot for some of his recruits. I can remember Sid going on and on about how the elimination of General College would kill the athletics program. He also thought the U should create a sports management major like they had at Michigan. Every school had ways to assist the academically fragile.
 

What we, as Gopher athletics boosters, value is different from what the Administration values. The Administration has ignorantly undervalued the value of strong athletics and has feared scandals. And yet, academic scandals have tarnished this research-based land-grant institution far more than any athletic scandal, including the Ohio State BB fight.
 

PMWinSTP said:
What's going to replace streaming? I agree there will be some sort of consolidation or coalescing to a handful of streaming platforms...
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Sorry. Concur streaming sports-related content is not going away and there will be some measure of consolidation.

Whether the dinosaur networks (NBC; FOX; CBS...), the cable dreadnaughts (ESPNs; FSNs; TNT/TBS...), and the newer hybrid platforms (MSNOW; Paramount; Peacock...) can still fund college sports to the tune of multi-billion $$$ contracts without cable and satellite revenues is the experiment.

Google AI reports that total revenue for cable and other subscription programming in the US was approximately $94.7 billion in 2024...plus there's more:

Revenue Breakdown (U.S. Data)
Revenue for cable programming comes primarily from two sources: advertising and affiliate (licensing) fees paid by providers.
  • Advertising and Licensing: In 2022, U.S. providers generated around $57.18 billion from licensing rights to broadcast programs and advertising air time, a figure that was down from the previous year.
  • Traditional TV Advertising: In 2024, traditional TV advertising spending was approximately $59 billion.
  • Total Revenue: Overall, traditional pay TV has experienced a significant downturn, losing an estimated $10.5 billion in revenue between 2020 and 2025
As for the history lesson, ESPN as a network is almost 50 years old. According to Google AI it started with just 1.4 cable households in Connecticutt in 1979. That same AI says ESPNs household number peaked in 2011 at 100 million subscribers and is down to about 60 million boxes. AI does indicate some improvement in ESPN's numbers to about 70 million subscribers with streaming added in.

As the trend line is down for revenue, the ability for the conferences to continue the level of compensation at present levels appears dubious.

It will be a great exercise in market economics to continue to watch unfold. I will be paying my Comcast bill this week to do my part in sustaining the current largesse.
 

BilldGopher said:
Sorry. Concur streaming sports-related content is not going away and there will be some measure of consolidation.

Whether the dinosaur networks (NBC; FOX; CBS...), the cable dreadnaughts (ESPNs; FSNs; TNT/TBS...), and the newer hybrid platforms (MSNOW; Paramount; Peacock...) can still fund college sports to the tune of multi-billion $$$ contracts without cable and satellite revenues is the experiment.

Google AI reports that total revenue for cable and other subscription programming in the US was approximately $94.7 billion in 2024...plus there's more:

Revenue Breakdown (U.S. Data)
Revenue for cable programming comes primarily from two sources: advertising and affiliate (licensing) fees paid by providers.
  • Advertising and Licensing: In 2022, U.S. providers generated around $57.18 billion from licensing rights to broadcast programs and advertising air time, a figure that was down from the previous year.
  • Traditional TV Advertising: In 2024, traditional TV advertising spending was approximately $59 billion.
  • Total Revenue: Overall, traditional pay TV has experienced a significant downturn, losing an estimated $10.5 billion in revenue between 2020 and 2025
As for the history lesson, ESPN as a network is almost 50 years old. According to Google AI it started with just 1.4 cable households in Connecticutt in 1979. That same AI says ESPNs household number peaked in 2011 at 100 million subscribers and is down to about 60 million boxes. AI does indicate some improvement in ESPN's numbers to about 70 million subscribers with streaming added in.

As the trend line is down for revenue, the ability for the conferences to continue the level of compensation at present levels appears dubious.

It will be a great exercise in market economics to continue to watch unfold. I will be paying my Comcast bill this week to do my part in sustaining the current largesse.
Click to expand...
My educated guess is that streaming consolidation will coalesce around Prime, Netflix, and YouTube. Two of those three have deep pockets and diverse content.
 

disco said:
I generally like Fleck, and I think he's a good guy who recruits good guys.

But I've been quite clear. Back up a truck full of hookers and blow and Ferraris and scour the prison system for players if it means winning championships.
Click to expand...
Yep, I used to care. Now, it's a plus I suppose.

I care about it as much as I care about the character of the players on the Vikings or whatever TV show I'm currently streaming. It's all professional now.
 

After watching the clip of the ND basketball coach having to be physically restrained by his coaches and players and a poster here saying based on the level of reffing he got it, that response bothered me While I am all for passion, that reflected a serious loss of perspective that is commonplace in college athletics. And at times during games I can lose perspective.
While I get frustrated with the level of play, and find PJs campiness tiring and worn out, I very much appreciate the emphasis on service and citizenship. If we got a significant boost in resources, I would like to know what Fleck could do with that. And with greater resources my opinion is that the obligation to run a clean ship increases.
 

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