Eric Elison

Nebraska just got a $600 million stadium renovation approved and the way they're thinking about it is worth paying attention to. The Big Red Rebuild is a major revenue play. The renovated Memorial Stadium is projected to generate $95 million in annual revenue, a 40% increase over current levels. The entire project is funded without taxpayer dollars, using $250 million in philanthropic support and $350 million in private bond financing, but the financial model underneath is what makes Nebraska interesting. AD Troy Dannen has been clear about how he views the role of facilities in the new era of college athletics. He's called the stadium "a revenue stream that, for the most part, is untapped." The rebuild is designed to turn Memorial Stadium into a year-round venue for concerts, events, and entertainment, not just seven Saturdays in the fall. Premium seating gets repriced, concessions and fan experience get overhauled, the building starts working 12 months a year instead of three. Dannen's broader philosophy on funding is just as notable, I think. He's said Nebraska is adapting to revenue sharing "with a focus on creativity rather than contribution drives." The athletic department takes no student fees, no institutional subsidies, no state dollars. It actually pays $5 million back to the university annually. When the $20.5 million revenue sharing obligation hit, Nebraska absorbed it by cutting 27 positions, reprioritizing expenses, and leaning into Big Ten distribution money. That's a program treating its athletic department like a business, protecting a financial model while investing aggressively in the infrastructure to grow it. Not every school has Nebraska's fan base or Big Ten TV money, but the mindset is transferable. The programs that will thrive in this new landscape are the ones rethinking how their assets generate revenue, not just asking their fans and donors to cover the difference.

@BJRains Do you think this will lead to packaging our basketball/olympic sports onto ESPN+ through our CW partnership?

Boise State back in the fold with ESPN - kind of. CW games will now be available for streaming on the ESPN app, which includes Pac-12 games.

New League. Same Legacy. The mark is bolder. The boundaries are gone. The energy is electric. ⚡️ The new Pac-12 is coming. #BackThePac

time for season ✌️ #BleedBlue x #UnbreakableCulture

$𝟭 𝗠𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗚𝗜𝗙𝗧 Bronco Nation continues to show up in a big way to fuel our momentum and inspire others to be EPIC! 📰 boi.st/4tYXCLl #BleedBlue | #WhatsNext

The commentary on this is absolutely incredible 🔥🤣

@spywhozagged @bsu_yeti I make no excuse but to try and equate the current environment to what we had going at the end of the Coach Pete era is completely unfair. Power programs made bad bets on HS kids and regularly got whipped for it. Now they take all conference players every year instead.

@eelison1 @bsu_yeti Yes, but winning the MWC is like being the tallest midget in a room full of midgets. At the end of the day, you’re still a midget. He is a great recruiter and a mediocre head coach. What’s his record against power programs? What will your excuse be when we lose by 20+ at Oregon?

I like SD, but this seems a bit preemptive. I wouldn't consider SD to be "proven" and worry he's been riding the coat tail of Dirk Koetter and Jeanty. What are your thoughts? #BoiseState

@davec260 @BattleCattleFan It absolutely damages her argument. Also…no…we won’t.

That in no way damages the legal argument. 1) exit fees were negotiated between the parties and signed contracturally 2) penalties in the “scheduling” agreement were negotiated between the parties and also signed contractually. The fact that the PACRAP has not lived up to its expectations has nothing to do with the contracts that were violated. Pay your exit fees and the PACRAP pays its poaching penalties - all of them.

Gloria Nevarez is really shooting her conference in the foot when it comes to her legal battles. REALLY hard to argue that your Conference has been financially harmed and demanding to receive damages due to breach of contract while also going on a media tour saying things like: “What we have is equal to if not better than what those other schools are leaving for.” What is it Gloria?

@spywhozagged @bsu_yeti He wasn’t terrible…he was atrocious, and a cautionary tale of what can happen when you hear the wrong coach. I’m less ashamed of the USF loss than I am Fresno but I digress. Bottom line Spencer recruited the best class of G6 and continues to win championships. That counts.

@eelison1 @bsu_yeti Yes, he was terrible. And how was SD’s first season without Jeanty? We were favored to win at USF, how did that game turn out? They looked completely overmatched and unprepared. we’re gonna lose by 25+ at Oregon and may lose at Western Michigan.

@spywhozagged @bsu_yeti Which Coach? AvaLOSS…that’s who. 3 straight seasons of regression. Pay the man.

@bsu_yeti Agree, 100%. We’ve been the top dog in a trash conference for years with the top resources and the top talent. What coach could not have done what he did? And last year he was awful. And his record against power programs is atrocious.

"Dad, how good was Ashton Jeanty at Boise State?"

@ariehkovler @moveincircles What a great quote.

@moveincircles There's a Roger Zelazny book where the protagonist is offered greatness by a god to try and tempt him to their side:

In the last month I’ve had several people send me “their” writing work only to realise on reading it’s AI prose Every time I’ve started reading with interest, only to realise and feel queasy. Like biting into what looks like juicy steak, and finding it’s made of plasticine 🤢

@JamesBlunt Calm down Blunt. Next you’re gonna tell us you pee in the shower.

I use conditioner on my armpits.

been waiting for this one  #BleedBlue x #UnbreakableCulture

@NFL_DF Not sure which lifetime that you’ll find me wishing the guy driving the car that led to my kids death “the best in his career”. Won’t be this one. Money makes humans disgusting.

The family of Destiny Betts wishes Rueben Bain Jr. the best in his career, and calls her passing a “tragic accident” while wishing for no further public attention:

@canefilms @ChiefsDS @OllieConnolly They clearly paid the family. Based on what I read not through official channels but you’d be hard pressed to see me wish the guy that was driving the car that led to my daughter’s death the best of luck in life. Two things can be true…click bait and this guy sucks.

A GoFundMe does not mean a family surrenders the right to privacy forever. Raising money during a medical crisis is not the same thing as consenting to have your daughter’s death recycled as draft-content spectacle two years later. And a lot of this fake outrage is so transparent. People (you) do not suddenly become principled when it benefits their favorite team or gives them a weapon against one they hate. They are not defending anybody. They are using a family’s tragedy like rivalry content, which is deeply weird and gross.

News: Reuben Bain was cited for careless driving after a March 2024 crash in Miami that left a passenger in a coma. That passenger, a 22-year-old student, died three months later. NFL teams are aware and investigating, per sources.

@canefilms @ChiefsDS @OllieConnolly Family had a GoFundMe and then suddenly doesn’t have an opinion on the matter and want things to remain private. Gets another citation in 2025 that gets dismissed for administrative reasons. Yeah sounds like a good dude.

@ChiefsDS @OllieConnolly That is not the point. You do not get to hide behind “no one asked for harassment” after the family explicitly asked for privacy. If the people who actually needed to know already knew, and no criminal finding was made, this was not some noble act of reporting

Here we go

Football is 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠. #BleedBlue | #BuiltDifferent