Who Killed College Football?

Latest Episodes:

Bonus Episode: NCAA Q&A Oct 29, 2024

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wkcfb.substack.com

As we do after every suspect is revealed and investigated, we turned it over to the paid members of the Who Killed College Football Substack community to interrogate us about the NCAA episode. Topics include why the Association and its members failed to plan for the future, the death penalty vs. just kicking a school out of the NCAA altogether, and what…

Suspect Number 3: The NCAA Oct 24, 2024

The NCAA spent the better part of 70 years stamping out threats to amateurism wherever they could find them. From big scandals to seemingly minor violations, the Association was there to defend the idea that college football shouldn’t be about money, at least for the players. For a while, the courts, media, and public opinion all backed them up. But as the riches in the sport grew, the NCAA became something of a comic villain, and when the time came for college football’s relationship with labor to evolve, the NCAA never seemed ready to lead the charge.Producer: Michael HenahanResearcher: Alex McDaniel

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wkcfb.substack.com/subscribe

Bonus Episode: Texas A&M President Emeritus R. Bowen Loftin Oct 17, 2024

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wkcfb.substack.com

R. Bowen Loftin served as president of Texas A&M from 2010 to 2014. He also appeared in our Conferences episode, discussing the influence the Longhorn Network had on Texas A&M’s decision to head to the SEC. But he had more to share about life in the old Big 12, including some revelations about the Governor’s office and the reality of the conference’s po…

Bonus Episode: Conferences Q&A Oct 14, 2024

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wkcfb.substack.com

As we do after each suspect, we took questions from the paid members of the WKCFB Substack community about the conferences episode. (Temple is mentioned twice here, to give you a sense of how winding this gets.) A free preview of the episode is available to everyone, but if you’d like to unlock the full episode and be able to submit questions of your ow…

Suspect Number 2: Conferences Oct 09, 2024

Conferences didn’t used to be where all the bargaining power resided in college football, and their concerns used to be exceedingly local. Today, they’re conglomerates locked into escalating wars of spending and revenue, and leaning on their market strength (or weakness) to shape everything from the postseason to realignment. They’ve even found a way to make that business competition important to fans, and the conferences have no reason to slow down now.Producer: Michael HenahanResearcher: Alex McDaniel

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wkcfb.substack.com/subscribe

Bonus Episode: Television Q&A Oct 02, 2024

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wkcfb.substack.com

After we review each suspect in our college football murder mystery, we’ll be taking questions from paid members of the WKCFB Substack community about that episode – what went into making it, topics we didn’t cover, questions about the history we laid out, whatever. We got some great questions after the TV episode and enjoyed batting them around.If you…

Suspect Number 1: Television Sep 26, 2024

College football’s rise as a valuable TV product is still relatively new. For decades, the sport either couldn’t be televised or was limited at a national level. But once that market opened up, networks moved fast to get more of everything – more games, more bowls, more playoffs. They’re not just broadcast partners either. These companies have found a way to acquire partial ownership of college football, becoming business partners with conferences. Thanks to television, it’s easier than ever to watch almost every game at the FBS level. It’s also a lot harder to tell what that level’s going to look like in the future.Producer: Michael HenahanResearcher: Alex McDaniel

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wkcfb.substack.com/subscribe

Prologue: College Football Is Dead, Long Live College Football Sep 25, 2024

Before we dive into the six suspects in the death of college football, let’s begin with a confession. College football is, in fact, very much alive, with upsets being sprung, conferences continuing to realign, and expanded playoff spots to fret over. The sport remains incredibly popular, entertaining, and, at least for certain segments, financially lucrative.But the college football you used to know? That might be dead, whether you’re unhappy about the slow erasure of amateurism, swollen superconferences disregarding geography, the power of television networks to shape the future, and any number of other changes that could shake your belief in what college football was, is, or should be.If you’re feeling that way, well, so is Nick Saban. So let’s start digging into how we got here in the first place.

Producer: Michael Henahan

Researcher: Alex McDaniel

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wkcfb.substack.com/subscribe

Who Killed College Football - Trailer Sep 20, 2024

Coming soon: Steven Godfrey and Ryan Nanni attempt to find out Who Killed College Football? in a six-part series examining the major power players who have wreaked so much havoc on the sport

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wkcfb.substack.com/subscribe

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