In A College Football Super League Michigan Needs to Keep Big Ten Brand

Getty Images Former Michigan Wolverines football head coach Jim Harbaugh.

Rumors of a college football “super league” to replace the current NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) are gaining traction. If the Michigan Wolverines join this so-called super league, as should be expected, they need to maintain their tight association with the Big Ten.

Based on current rumors, including reporting by The Athletic, a college football super league would consist of eight divisions (or groupings) of ten teams each. The first seventy teams would be comprised of the top teams in college football, including Michigan, Oregon, Texas, and Utah. Essentially, all the so-called Power 5 schools, plus SMU and Notre Dame. The remaining ten would come from a the Group of 5 schools. The top seventy teams would always be in the super league, while the bottom ten would move in and out based on their record the prior year. It’s a model familiar to those who watch England’s Premiere League soccer.

What would happen to Michigan? To the Big Ten? That’s all to be determined — and this will not happen overnight. Based on current rumors, the “Big Ten” would be the name of one of the eight divisions. Minnesota, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraksa, Colorado, and five others would be part of this reconstructed “Big Ten.” Michigan, under this scenario, would go into a “Midwest” division. They would no longer be a part of the so-called Big Ten. Another rumor suggests that there would be two mega-conferences within this super league, an SEC and a Big Ten. Michigan would be placed in one of the “Midwest divisions” within the Big Ten conference. Either way, it would be a major marketing blunder if the Michigan Wolverines cede the Big Ten brand.

A College Football Super League

Rumors of a 80-team college football super league reached a fever pitch this past week. Rumors were so hot, in fact, that the conversation quickly pivoted from if such a thing might happen to how it should operate. Proposals ranged from a 70-team permanent league — the Power 5 schools — plus an associated 10-team relegation group, culled from today’s Group of 5 schools. The top 70 schools would be safe — always part of the super league. For the bottom ten teams? Play poorly enough, and your team just might get pushed out of the relegation group. Play well enough, and your team just might get bumped back up into the relegation group. There were also rumors of a fixed salary for players, along with an NFL-like draft — high school players being drafted by a college team.

Reports have surfaced about a proposed College Football “Super League” that would involve promotion and relegation. @AndrewMarchand joined us today and broke down what the structure of it would look like.

The idea of a college football super league is an odd one, in that it seems both utterly preposterous and plainly obvious all at the same time. The NIL rules, transfer portals, labor disputes, conference realignment, and billions of dollars in television revenue are making the current system untenable. According to Stewart Mandel and Andrew Marchand with The Athletic, a college football super league may simply be necessary: “One league overseeing college football’s highest level. No more conferences as we’ve known them. Playoff berths being decided solely on the field. Promotion and relegation for smaller schools. Players being paid directly. NIL and the transfer portal, managed.”  Mandel added that the “influential leaders” working on this idea are “pitching it as the best way forward for a sport they believe needs saving.”

Big Ten and the Michigan Brand

Michigan earns $68.66 per attendee every home game. Each home game in the “Big House” draws over 100,000 fans. This is supplemental to the massive television and streaming monies each team in the Big Ten splits. This is a substantial amount. In 2023, the Big Ten signed a 7-year, $7 billion media rights deal — just for football.

Yes, the various media outlets want the rights to show the football games of the individual Big Ten schools — Michigan, Penn State, UCLA, etc. But the Big Ten, as a brand, as an organizing structure, as a historical identity and smartly networked lobbying organization working on behalf of all the schools in the group is a value that should not be discounted.

FOOTBALL REVENUE PER FAN 🏟️💰
2022 Season, per Sportico + NCAA data

With new data recently released, we can now see the FY2023 in-stadium football revenue per fan attendee, and it’s remarkable to see how much it varied by school:

(More details + context in the source notes) ⤵️

A college football super league can’t happen overnight. But change is coming to college football. Likely, transformational change. The Michigan brand, fan base, history — and the University’s commitment to college football — suggest that, no matter how the near-future plays out for college athletics, the Michigan Wolverines will play a key part. Teams that got left out in the recent Pac 12 – Big Ten realignment, for example, including UC Berkeley, Washington State and Oregon State, simply do not have the fan base or financial clout as Michigan. That said, the Big Ten has its own unique, substantial value. Michigan and the Big Ten would serve each other well if they manage to stay aligned with one another, no matter what changes take place across the college football landscape.