via http://www.athlonsports.com/
I am a proponent of Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Florida State and Louisville joining the SEC and I will provide you with 12 million reasons.
If in fact, you always follow the money, then I think it important to follow the TV advertising. If you understand Advertising, you understand that eyeballs on ads equals revenue and the more eyeballs, the more revenue.
As the SEC presently sits spread out over the South Eastern United States largely in smaller population Metropolitan areas, in smaller population states.
Here is a table I made listing present SEC cities and their population, and the growth to 16 Teams from 12 with the addition of Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Louisville, and Florida State.
SEC Cities |
Population |
Est. pop within 100 miles |
Possible New School Cities | Population |
Est. pop within 100 miles |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Florida Gainsville, FL |
125,000
|
200,000
|
Texas A&M Houston |
2.4 Million | 4 Million |
| Arkansas Little Rock, AR |
193,000
|
250,000
|
DFW | 2 Million | 3 Million |
| South Carolina Columbia, SC |
129,000
|
175,000
|
San Antonio | 1.3 Million | 1.5 Million |
| Vanderbilt Nashville, TN |
601,000
|
750,000
|
Corpus Christi | 300000 | 350000 |
| Kentucky Lexington, KY |
295,000
|
350,000
|
Florida St. Tallahassee Jacksonville |
181,000 822,000 |
1.25 Million |
LSU
Baton Rouge/New Orleans |
229,000
343,000
|
700,000
|
Oklahoma OK City Tulsa |
550,000 591,000 |
1.25 Million |
| Mississippi
State Starkville, MS |
24,000
|
30,000
|
Louisville
Louisville Cincinnati |
740,000 331,000 |
1.25 Million |
| Auburn Auburn, AL Columbus, GA |
53,400
190000
|
300,000
|
Total
Population
|
9,100,000
|
MSA
Area Population
12,600,000
|
| Georgia Atlanta/ Gainsville, GA |
40,000
420,000
|
600,000
|
|||
| Alabama Tuscaloosa, AL Montgomery, AL Birmingham, AL |
179,000
225,000
21,200
|
750,000
|
|||
| Tennessee Knoxville, TN |
185,000
|
250,000
|
|||
| Ole
Miss
Jackson, MS Memphis, TN |
130,000
647,000
|
900,000
|
|||
Total Population |
2,750,000
|
MSA
Area Population
5,000,000
|
Total League Population After Adding 4 Teams |
11,800,000 |
Total
MSA Service Areas After Growth 17,600,000 |
As you can see, this is a huge Revenue Boost from CBS and ESPN. The Eyes on Ads just went up by 252% by adding these 4 Teams.... I would estimate TV Payout for Football alone to be upwards of $30 Million per Team.
In this market of reduced Donations from Alumni, this money cannot be ignored. The SEC has won the last 5 National Championships in Football, the last 3 in Baseball, Texas A&M has won the last 3 National Titles in Track and Field with the last 11 Champions coming from the new SEC, and the Basketball Tournament Revenue from SEC with Louisville, OK, in the mix would be staggering.
SEC plus 4 makes HUGE Economic Sense.
I believe a 16 Team SEC is in the works, like all things this size and momentum, the ship doesn't turn on a dime. I believe the SEC is getting all the pieces in place to make one large announcement. Texas A&M is blazing the trail and laying down smoke screen for the other 3 teams to get things in place behind the scenes. I look for an announcement around the labor day weekend and the start of College Football.
All the attention will shift to the SEC and College Football.... Cannot wait for The Football Season to get underway.
Kevin Overton
kevinoverton@gmail.com
