Cal Bears Sports

[CatsbyAZ]

Still finding it remarkable how the Bay Area universities, both as nationally prominent as Stanford and Cal, are left in the wind trying to find a new conference home while, let’s face it, state schools like Oregon, Arizona, and Arizona State are the ones getting new life in other conferences.

But especially for Cal, this is something I’ve been wondering for 3 or 4 years now – even before last week’s Pac 12’s extinction event – does Cal’s football program have much of a future?

Cal’s Athletic Department faces more outstanding debt than any other department nationally, totaling over $400M. Upwards of half of this total is a result of renovations to the football stadium.

Moving to the ACC at this point reeks of desperation, partly to pay their bills, but it doesn’t sound like the ACC wants Cal or Stanford that much. And a move to the ACC (or AAC) would erode the non-revenue sports whose athletes could better balance the Student-Athlete life by leaving for a nearby MTW school.

And were Cal to join the Mountain West, the TV payouts would only top $5M annually, far below the amount needed to maintain their 30 varsity sports and payoff the football stadium debts.

On top of all that, and what has had me wondering for a few years whether Cal’s two revenue sports would be better off joining a lighter lineup in the Mountain West is how both Football and Basketball are terminally stagnate. Basketball hasn’t made the tournament since 2016. Football has mustered only 3 winning seasons in the decade since Jeff Tedford’s heralded tenure – 82-57.

And on my travels through the Bay Area for work, local fan support since the Tedford years has cratered. There’s almost no interest to be rallied in the limited beat coverage. Only Duke and Kansas fill their football stadium at a lower percentage. Both basketball and football are listless products.

Even if the Pac 12 had stayed together, it was looking like Cal's sports program were better off either scaling back the smaller sports or siphoning a few off to smaller conferences. And how much longer could the Basketball and Football programs look like better competitive match ups in the Mountain West, especially now without a TV deal?

[KillerKlown]

Cal should be what Baylor is right now. They need to try their hardest to get in the ACC or bring in teams from MTW and American to the PAC. Joining a group conference just isn't going to cut it.

Edit: If (big if) they do join the ACC they might have to tuck non revenue sports in the MTW including basketball.

[CatsbyAZ]

To pull comments from the Realignment thread on Cal (and Stanford) finalizing their move to the ACC, I completely agree with the following two quotes:

I hope the ACC gets this done. We don't need to be stuck with these two again.

&

I'm just happy Stanford and Cal are off the board. I had some concern that the Big XII might change (lose?) its mind and add them at the last minute.

The following comment, which I could not have worded better, is where I wanted to ask…

Burning relationships with the three biggest brands in the ACC just to add 2 schools with below average fan attendance and a red headed step child in SMU that's less popular then some high school teams in their own city. This should be interesting to watch unravel. ACC is done for.

…who exactly is the joke on? ACC? Cal/Stanford? Both?

Yes Cal backing into what feels like an arranged marriage is enough to keep most of their 30 sports going – Cal will start off earning $20M their first years in the ACC, which is short of their over $30M earned annually from the Pac 12.

But what in the world was the ACC thinking?!?! Their Grant Of Rights providing long term membership stability should’ve kept the ACC from rushing any risks like adding 3 far away fan bases that have waned to the point of afterthoughts in their own hometowns.

As for Cal, there’s a chance their lawsuit Vs UCLA will net Cal the remaining $10M shortfall to pay back financial damages created by UCLA deserting the Pac 12. But without the full $30M it’s likely difficult cutbacks to their 30 sports will be made.

In the meantime, Cal is planning rolling over 24 of their 30 sports that compete in the ACC, such as Football, Basketball, Baseball, Golf, Gymnastics, Rowing, Volleyball, and Track among others.

How will this all play out?

From a Cal Blog:“19 of the 30 sports will see no scheduling changes and minimal scheduling impacts, since many of these sports have regional alliances they will likely remain in (rugby, men’s crew, water polo, men’s gymnastics), while others already travel nationally like golf, tennis, lacrosse and field hockey. There will be assessments to minimize overall travel on the remaining 11.”

And according to ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips: “In football, east coast teams will travel to the west coast to face Cal and Stanford every other year, according to Phillips. Meanwhile, Cal and Stanford will travel to the east coast three to four times per season.”

“As for men’s and women’s basketball, current ACC teams will take two trips every four years and will play Cal and Stanford on those trips. Cal and Stanford will come to the east coast three-to-four times per year. Those teams will play two games each time they travel east.”

Outside of Football and Basketball, those other 9 sports will face pressure to self-sustain through more donor support in the face of traveling longer distances. All will likely facing a tougher reality of higher roster turnover regretting more travel and also convincing bread-and-butter recruits (including for Football and Basketball) to play half their conference schedules on the East Coast when they could more comfortably play for Fresno State or Nevada.

[CatsbyAZ]

Before a wild game kicked off between USC and California last Saturday, its kickoff was delayed by a group of undergrads squatting on Cal’s midfield logo until field security handcuffed demonstrators and escorted them out of the stadium.

Amidst delaying the kickoff by 15 minutes, most onlookers assumed their cause was for Palestine. But it turns out their on-field protesting was part of their months-long campaign to reinstate a suspended Colonial Studies professor. Their shirts read “Justice 4 Ivonne,” as in Ivonne del Valle, found likely, by a “preponderance of the evidence,” of stalking a fellow Berkeley professor according to several University investigations.

From local news sources: “…records obtained by KQED paint a troubling picture of what led to del Valle’s suspension. Over three investigations, which looked into behavior that began in 2018 and continued through 2022, the university found del Valle had repeatedly harassed, stalked and retaliated against Joshua Clover, an English and Comparative Literature professor at UC Davis, and then violated orders not to contact him…Student supporters contend del Valle was acting out of desperation, believing that she is actually the victim of harassment and online stalking.”

“…del Valle acknowledged some of the behavior described in the investigative reports, including keying Clover’s car, vandalizing the area outside his apartment door, contacting his friends, posting an image of his partner online and leaving messages outside the home of his mother. Those messages included one that said “I raised a psychopath,” according to the university’s investigative reports.”

For her defense, she believes the professor she stalked made matters worse for her by hacking and manipulating her social media accounts. But investigations have not been able to determine this. Her student supporters are now planning a hunger strike.

“My life is completely destroyed,” said del Valle. “I don't want UC Berkeley to think that they can do this to a minority woman in order to protect a white, senior professor. It's not acceptable.”

These events read like a particular subplot from a particular Jonathan Franzen Novel. Leave it to Berkeley students to radicalize the fallout to the point of disrupting the football game.

Get ready ACC:

[Merkin]

Should probably go on the political board.

Leave it to Berkeley students to radicalize the fallout to the point of disrupting the football game.

Don't think a dozen protestors represents the Berkeley student body.

Same with the "dozens" of UCLA students at the pro-Palestine rally.

Both Berkeley and UCLA have a total enrollment of 45,000 students or so.

Not necessarily you, but the conservative meme of colleges and universities indoctrinating students is a little tiring.

I worked at a Cal State university for 30 years, You know how often I heard anything political from the administration?

Never.

[Chicat]

[CatsbyAZ]

Article from SI—
"The financial situation of Cal athletics is not encouraging as the Golden Bears begin membership in the Atlantic Coast Conference next fall...the athletic departments of UCLA and Cal combined to have a deficit of more than $80 million in fiscal year 2023 when contribution from the universities’ central campus was excluded."

To quote Jon Wilner from San Jose Mercury-News: "Without a course change, the grim financial trajectories in Westwood and Berkeley could undermine success on the field (and court) in their new leagues against peers with stronger fiscal foundations."

"Wilner concluded the financial situation at Cal is worse than that of UCLA. According to Wilner’s report, Cal reported $126.1 million in revenue for fiscal year 2023 and $134.9 million in expenses for an $8.8 million deficit."

"Wilner suggests that the financial picture for the 2023-24 fiscal year might be worse because of Cal’s take from Pac-12 revenue could be less than last year. He noted that the Bears’ cost of existence in the ACC is likely to be millions of dollars higher that it is in the Pac-12 because of increased travel costs and other issues. Also, Cal and Stanford reportedly will receive only 30 percent shares of the ACC’s media rights revenue for the next seven years, which would be about $7.5 million instead of the $25 million the other ACC schools would get."

I'm going to get ahead of myself and predict two things: 1) At some point Cal will be the first P5 football program to fold completely; this thanks to 2) the football program eventually not only NOT generating the usual funds football does for Athletic Departments but fan interest in Cal Bears sports has absolutely cratered over the past 10 - 15 years, more than any other P5 college fanbase I can think of. The Bay Area's homegrown fan support isn't there for Cal anymore; they aren't buying football tickets or tuning into the games that would help fund the Cal Bears through their already rocky scenario noted by the article.

[Merkin]

Cal cannot drop football due to the worst in the history of the known world stadium deal. The Cal president was adamant about getting rid of Larry Scott due to his terrible leadership in getting funding.

https://deadspin.com/cal-is-fucked-beca ... 1795896858

The Bears now owe at least $18 million per year in interest-only payments on the stadium debt, and that number will balloon to at least $26 million per year in 2032 when Berkeley starts paying off the principal stadium cost. Payments will increase until they peak at $37 million per year in 2039, then subside again in 2051 before Berkeley will owe $81 million in 2053. After that, the school is on the hook for $75 million more and will have six decades to pay it off. The stadium might not get paid off until 2113


Stanford did it right. They knew that Bay Area college football is dying.

[CalStateTempe]

What about calimony? How much do they get through that?

[Merkin]

What about calimony? How much do they get through that?