College Football Business Still Booming, with Hogs in the Mix (Opinion)

We’ve reached that time of year when our collective itch for college football — and the brand played by the University of Arkansas, in particular — gets scratched by a steady dose of preseason magazines.

Those kinds of scratches only provide minor relief, of course. Heck, in some cases, they actually seem to irritate more than alleviate.

Regardless, it’s been fun to follow the national perception of the Razorbacks as they prepare for the 2011 season. We’ve done so with a little help from our friends at ArkansasSports360.com, who had posted the opinions of Lindy’s, Athlon and The Sporting News as of press time.

All three mags have Arkansas finishing third in the SEC West, with Lindy’s picking the Hogs 10th nationally, TSN 11th,  and Athlon 16th. If there’s a better indication than that of the strength of the SEC, I’d love to see it.

Predicting an entire football season in June, as we all know, is a sketchy proposition at best. But you can’t blame the publishers of those magazines for wanting a piece of the cash pie that is college football.

That’s especially the case in the six major conferences, which continue to enjoy record profits from their football teams. According to a story written by Chris Isidore for CNNMoney.com last December, the 68 teams from those conferences turned more than $1 billion in profits for 2010.

That profit, which was up 11 percent from the previous school year, was based on a CNNMoney analysis of figures filed by each school with the Department of Education. Also according to that analysis, only five of the 68 teams in the power conferences failed to post a profit.

“They posted that jump in combined profit even though revenue rose by only 6 [percent] to $2.2 billion,” Isidore wrote. “That means the schools had a combined profit margin of 49 [percent], enough to make any pro team owner green with envy.

“Increasingly lucrative broadcast deals and strong ticket sales have been driving revenue. And, of course, not having to pay your athletes gives big-time college football the ultimate business model.”

As has been mentioned in this space before, another group that enjoys a big piece of the college football pie is the legal gambling industry in Las Vegas. Interestingly, the Las Vegas Golden Nugget Sports Book released its “College Football Games of the Year” about the same time the national magazines hit newsstands.

According to Micah Roberts at VegasInsider.com, the Golden Nugget’s 100-plus games were about 80 less than it released prior to last season. Still, according to Roberts, director Tony Miller indicated the Golden Nugget “had already booked more action” than it did last season.

For those not opposed to connecting a few dots between Fayetteville and Las Vegas, the Golden Nugget’s release also gave a good idea what the wise guys think about Arkansas this season. This isn’t mentioned as any sort of endorsement of gambling, but simply because there are no more cold-blooded, objective opinions than the ones offered by Vegas oddsmakers.

It also was interesting to note that of the roughly 105 games for which the Golden Nugget issued early lines, Arkansas is involved in seven of them. That’s more than half of the Hogs’ total games, and more than 6 percent of the total games released.

As the Golden Nugget saw it, Arkansas opened as a 7 ½-point favorite over Auburn, a 4-point favorite over South Carolina, a 14-point favorite over Tennessee and a 9-point fave over Mississippi State.

The Hogs, conversely, opened as underdogs to Alabama (11 points), Texas A&M (2 ½) and LSU (4 ½).

All of those numbers, obviously, are subject to change as bets are made. A couple, in fact, already have moved. At last check, Arkansas had moved to a 9-point favorite over Auburn and dipped to a 13-point favorite over Tennessee.

These changes, Roberts reported, were in line with overall trends during the first four-hour betting period. During that time, Roberts wrote, “wagers were limited to $1,000 per bet and only three bets could be made per window visit and then it was back to the end of the line.”

Bettors, Roberts noted, seemed to like Tennessee — among a few other teams — more than the Golden Nugget. Auburn games, meanwhile, “seem[ed] to be the biggest move againsts of the day.”

What does all of this mean? First and foremost, that college football continues to be a booming business for a wide array of people. Closer to home, it means the Razorbacks are right in the middle of it.