Locked On ACC - Daily College Football & Basketball Podcast - The Real Reason Why FSU Is Borrowing $327 Million | Under The Radar Recruiting From THIS Coach

Starting point is 00:00:00 This is a lot of debt to take on. Why is Florida State University about to borrow $327 million? You are Locked on ACC, your daily podcast on the Atlantic Coast Conference. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Shout out to the everydayers for making Locked on ACC your first listen and your first watch each and every day. We're available free wherever you get your podcast. We're free on YouTube. We're part of the Locked on podcast.

Starting point is 00:00:35 podcast network, your team every day. On this episode, we will talk about the impact that ESPN's finances could have on the future of the ACC. We'll talk about some winners and losers in the transfer portal. We'll talk about under the radar recruiting winners in the ACC, but got to talk about these FSU bonds. And of course, joined as always by my co-host Kenton Gibbs. He's from Lockdown Wolfpack. I am Alex Dono from Lockdownecc. And Brian Smith, who's not only the recruiting overlord here on the Lockdown Network, but he's also the host of Lockdown Seminels joins us. And today's episode is brought to you by Fanduel.

Starting point is 00:01:14 Make every moment more. Right now, new customers get $150 in bonus bets with any winning $5 bet. That's $150 with any winning $5 bet. Visit fanduel.com slash locked on to get started. So Florida State University, Brian, they're issuing bonds to try to raise $327 million. Now, I want to separate the truth from the myth, right? Because there's a lot of narratives, banter, trash talk going on from rival fans, including rival fans from the team that I love and cover saying either, oh, well, Florida State clearly that they're broke. Those boys are broke and they got financial trouble. That's why they need to borrow $327 million. Other people are saying, well, look, they must be borrowing $327 million as a means to buy their way out of the

Starting point is 00:02:06 ACC. I don't think either of those things are true, Brian, at least not directly. There might be some indirect truth to the second one. But you tell me, why is Florida State looking to raise $327 million through revenue bonds? Number one is Doke Campbell Stadium, which it still blows my mind how expensive building materials and stuff are now, but like it's 180 million or 225, I forget the number, but they're going all in on that. And then the second part is a separate football only facility for the Knowles. It is not related to the ACC case or cases as it may be because they're getting sued themselves by the ACC. It's so much fun to discuss. That's a separate entity that will come up with potential money as well. But that's not even here yet. So are they?

Starting point is 00:02:55 They broke, not necessarily, but you don't just carry $327 million in your wallet either. So there's a happy medium here, whether you're a private school, public school, or whatever, these funds are not just laying around for fun. You know what I mean? Like football has to find ways to make some of the other sports be able to use some of this, like the weight room. I'm sure there's going to be some kind of overlap with what they're doing at Doke, I assume. But again, it's super expensive.

Starting point is 00:03:22 I forget the number. And they're going all in because they're afraid that they're being left. behind by, let's be honest, the teams they recruit against, just like Miami, Georgia, Alabama, Auburn, Tennessee. Those schools are throwing money down the drain, too, and just at a higher level because the SEC contract's insane. So is Ohio State in Michigan, et cetera, the Big Ten contract. So they're trying to do that. I don't know if this is a good idea. I was looking at an article that said the payback would go through like 2004 or something, and I'm just like, you realize you're probably going to need to, yeah, look, like, if y'all aren't watching this on YouTube,

Starting point is 00:03:59 you just saw the look on Kim, Gibbs' face, it would say, well, I'm like, look, there's a chance you're going to need something else between now and then. I'm being very kind in how I said that. So that gives me a lot of pause. And if you go out and let's say they get out of this ACC dilemma in the next three to five years, by the way, for the folks that think it's going to be done in the next six months or less you're out of your mind, court cases. take forever. It's just true. 20 years without needing something else,

Starting point is 00:04:33 that gives me pause. That's my one concern. And I don't know how much capital, it's not my business, but it's a state institution. There are a lot of different things going on, and it's in the capital. Florida State is in Tallahassee.

Starting point is 00:04:45 There's a lot of political pressure with this. There are a lot of strings attached here. So I know one-tenth of it, but the baseline is still football only facility and dope campbell that's it i just it's just mind-blowing how much it is again building materials right now are insane and then how long the loan would be like that yeah that that just seems like bad business to me we can talk about that another time but when i saw 2044 i'm like bro i don't see how that works well i just well well apparently somebody's going to be enjoying a bobby banea day just in the florida state edition which is

Starting point is 00:05:23 I guess fine. But let me ask you this. Let's dig into that 10% that you do know because I've seen Florida State Stadium. I haven't played there personally. I'm not going to say that I've seen something I haven't. But with that being said, it's touted as one of the better stadiums in all of college football. So what are the upgrades that are coming where it's like, hey, we're lacking behind in these things. And these are likely to be the updates we see.

Starting point is 00:05:48 It's got to be the sweet stuff. Like I'm familiar with living in Alabama. I was at the University of Alabama for the high school state championships this last year. If you want a hotel in a stadium combined, go to Tuscaloosa. Whether they want to admit it or not, this is, my gun is shinier than yours contest with boosters and stuff. Don't kid yourself. We all know it. When your rival or somebody Hugh Huit has something better than you, the phone rings and it's somebody who donates a lot of money and he's not happy.

Starting point is 00:06:19 That's how that works. I know that Alabama, Georgia's facilities are one through five in college football. There's nobody in the stratosphere. And it's just private money. It's just potluck. They have really insanely rich people that throw them money constantly. They had the best facilities in college football when they were in phase one of phase three. And they're still not done.

Starting point is 00:06:42 I mean, it's insane. So Florida State feels like they're getting run over and recruiting, et cetera, because of some of this stuff. it's somewhat subjective, but it's got to start with the suites for the boosters and things of that nature. I assume they're going to just go all in on some kind of indoor facility or something. I haven't seen any renovation,

Starting point is 00:07:02 like diagrams or anything. I haven't looked into it. But I mean, for that kind of money, you could all but just completely redo it. And to your point, I've always thought it was a cool stadium. Yeah. Like, and I'm a traditional guy. Be careful for what you ask,

Starting point is 00:07:17 whether like dono can't stand for it. He's a Miami fan, but like, I'm sure he respects the stadium. It's a cool stadium. Sure. You know, it's brick. What are you doing to it? And why do you got to spend that much? Like, you couldn't find other resources that needed help.

Starting point is 00:07:32 Like, right. I think it's overdone. But, you know, again, I haven't seen the renovation. I'm like, you're spending $200 plus million just on rent up. Are you sure that's what you want to do? Yeah. Apparently it is. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:07:46 I mean, I do. I have a. theory on why they're issuing bonds to do this stuff and not using private money? Because I've seen some people bring that up, like, why you're not? Because here's my theory, Brian. Obviously, it's somewhat easy to issue revenue bonds when it's backed by your stadium and your Florida state's ticket sales are strong and the enthusiasm in the program. So it's pretty easy to guarantee where even if maybe it's not the best deal that they're

Starting point is 00:08:11 entering into, it's pretty easy for them to guarantee we're going to be able to pay this back through these resources. where I think that they probably want the private money, whatever, however much that is, to be focused on NIL. Because you obviously, you can't get loans or issue bonds for that the way you can get a loan to update your stadium and your facilities. Because I'm sure you're seeing this, Brian, being the recruiting overlord in these parts, that we're seeing some big time universities actually putting projects of facility renovations kind of on the back burner right now because they are deciding this is money that can. can be better used to bolster our NIL pockets, not to, you know, maybe add a couple extra sets of bleachers to our facilities and new locker rooms. So I think maybe Florida State is trying to kill two birds with one stone. They're thinking whatever private money we

Starting point is 00:09:02 have, we need to focus on NIL. And then let's, let's borrow some money to do whatever we want to do with Doke. I think you're 100% correct. You could use a little of that extra private money for contracts, that's possible. But, you know, to keep a coach around or something, and that's cool. But otherwise, yeah, like, Florida State, there's a lot of debate about this, too. Like, Florida State's NIL is not the same as Miami's. It's not. I know there's a lot of debate between the two schools and the fans arguing.

Starting point is 00:09:30 Miami's NIL game is on a whole other level. But it is what it is. It's like sometimes it's pot luck on who the guy is that wants to support you. Miami's NIL guy is, as you know, Uber rich. They only need like one or two guys, and they're good. Port of State's not in that situation. I've asked a lot of people about that that they're around the program. I haven't found that guy yet.

Starting point is 00:09:49 I'm sure they would love to. So that's probably the other reason they've got to be picky about this. I still, again, I still come back to it. 2004. Bro, that is not a normal loan. It's just not. So if you go into this, you cannot miss on a coaching hire. you cannot miss on anything that you do.

Starting point is 00:10:13 You can't have any skin. I mean, what are the odds of all that? I mean, Bobby Bowden's not walking through the door. And I'm not saying Norvell's leaving in the next year or two, but he's probably not going to stay there 30 plus years either. So, like, Dono can talk about this. And most schools, it's hard to hire a coach that's not only good, but wants to stay there, fits the program,

Starting point is 00:10:35 we'll adjust to change. By the way, coaches hate change, et cetera, and be good consistently. right now they're rolling but are they going to be rolling in four years let alone two thousand thirty five two thousand forty et cetera to keep that money come that's a lot of risk to me that would that would give me a lot of pause just saying well you know in tallahassee if they sign the deal that's too bad they can always take you to court you know we don't like the deal we'll just go to court about it but i digress i'm not saying

Starting point is 00:11:05 anything on that more more stuff we want to get to here with bryan smith from Lockdown Seminels. Whatever new is because he's been keeping up with these lawsuits, plural, in a way that Kenton and I were only trying to be on Brian's level. If there's anything new on that, plus I want to have him put his recruiting overlord hat on and talk to us about which ACC schools are really hitting it out of the park right now and recruiting. And then later on, Kenton and I will talk about ESPN's streaming revenue and if that could

Starting point is 00:11:35 have any future effect on the ACC. So my friends, we're only getting started. you want to keep it locked right here on this brand new episode of Locked on ACC. And you know, I'm only getting started with Fanduel. Folks, I've been having the time of my life with the NBA playoffs going on, the Stanley Cup playoffs going on. There is action to be had every single night. Baseball being in full swing.

Starting point is 00:12:00 I've had to start betting against my hometown Miami Marlins because that's really the only way to win any money when that team is involved. And yes, it is winner take all time in the NBA and NHL. FanDuel is giving you a shot to bring home big wins of your own. Right now, new customers get $150 in bonus bets with any winning $5 bet. That's $150 to bet on spreads, money lines, player props, which are so much fun and more. Visit fendual.com slash locked on and make every playoff shot count. FanDuel, America's number one sports book.

Starting point is 00:12:35 Thank you so much for making this episode of Lockdown, ACC, your first listen and your first watch today. Hey, are you watching Fox Sports or ESPN on your TV all day? Have to turn down that volume with all that shouting? Make the switch to Lockdown Sports Today. A free 24-7 sports streaming channel program for you every day to bring you the biggest stories without all the screaming. Lockdown Sports Today brings you can't miss analysis, opinions, and news streaming 24-7 on YouTube or the free Amazon Fire TV channels app. Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Alex Dono from Lockdown Keynes, Kenton Gibbs, from Lockdown, Wolfpack.

Starting point is 00:13:09 we got Brian Smith from Lockdown Seminels. He's also the recruiting expert of the Lockdown Network. So, Brian, is there anything new or any new expectations on the next steps between Florida State and the ACC in court, whether it be in Tallahassee or North Carolina? Where are we at right now? You would know more than me if you believe that or not, because every time I read something or I call somebody or talk to somebody on a sideline and recruiting trip, it's a lot of shaking of heads and gnashing of teeth because it's so slow.

Starting point is 00:13:42 Kenton mentioned it before we came on this show. Courts are just slow, man. They're just slow. And they're trying to throw everything on the wall, both of the ACC, Coo and Florida State and vice versa, to see what sticks. And until all that is unraveled, you can't even move full. We're not even, like, gotten started yet from what I've been told.

Starting point is 00:14:02 Long term, I still think Florida State will be able to come up with a number. and the ACC is going to be at its demise because of it. I mean, it is what it is, but I don't know when it would happen. For anybody that thinks that it's this year, though, the answer is new. Florida State would love for that to happen so they can maybe make the jump to whatever conference next year.

Starting point is 00:14:23 But the ACC also knows, as I know you two agree, that if that transpires, that means Syracuse or Miami or NC State or anybody else could also jump ship because once the precedent is set, the ACC ship has too many holes in it, it's going to sink. So they're going to fight to do everything they can to slow play this too. Any injunct, anything they can, just to give them more time to make TV money in the meantime as a worst-case scenario.

Starting point is 00:14:49 But everything I've heard is Florida State's going to do another set of, shall we say, borrowing in some capacity once the time comes, and I can't even imagine after what we just talked about in the first segment, where they're going to get some more money because they're going to have to pay, out if this goes the way to people that I know are thinking, I don't know how that works. Because like it's still going to be over $100 million. I don't know how that works. They got to pay yearly.

Starting point is 00:15:13 I don't know or want some. That might be part of the problem. If it's one sum, they're in trouble because it's all going to be over $100 million. Well, why is a taxpayer in the state of Florida? Why do I feel like I'm going to be on the hook for some of this when it's all said and done? Because you should. That's how you should feel. because the taxpayer always gets screwed in every state.

Starting point is 00:15:34 But here's Florida in particular, it's ironic that you mention it. It's such a transient state. It's one of the reasons that I know you're familiar with this, like high school coaches don't make as much in Florida. One of the reasons is a whole bunch of old people live down there that don't have any ties to the local high school. They don't care about that stuff. Right.

Starting point is 00:15:51 They vote. So the people with their politicians don't want to jump into that. And, you know, there's a lot of allegiances in the state for college football too, well, politicians are not in a good spot there. Not that I give two craps about politicians. I'm not a big fan. But, yeah, Fort State may need some help, but you're going to get voted out if you vote for that to comfort the pockets of people like yourself.

Starting point is 00:16:16 I've heard they're going to have to go the route of taking out something else for this situation. And it's going to be over 100 mil. I mean, again, I don't know how that, I don't know the number, but it's somebody I trust. I'll leave it at that. that's 10 times closer to this than I am, and that worries me. Because at some point, you just can't have like $400,500 million that you owe. It's just not realistic.

Starting point is 00:16:41 How can that, is that feasible? I'm not a financial guy, but that seems a little bit absurd to me. And that's what I wanted to know next in terms of like, where are all of these sources of money even coming from? That's a touchy subject on that one too. Well, we don't need to get into that. Exactly. But I'm just a little confused on that, but we'll skip past it into more of the football stuff here.

Starting point is 00:17:08 Do you think that that will have an impact on Florida State's recruiting and ability to get in new players in terms of, hey, because you know and I know, Dirty Macon is part of recruit. It's part of the deal. You got to, hey, those guys over there and $500 million in debt. You sure they're going to be able to, the NIL checks ain't going on.

Starting point is 00:17:24 100%. 100%. You think Florida cares? as much as Florida State's spitting on them right now with their program, they get a chance to take a shot out. You know, Miami or Georgia or Mississippi or any of those schools, they all hate each other. But do you think it'll have legs to stick?

Starting point is 00:17:40 Do you think it'll work on a recruiting trail to where it's like, hey, that's a school that, like you said, everything has to go right or, you know, you're working with a delicate house of cards when you talk about, you know, I know the rich dad, poor dad guy says, I have a billion in debt and it's good. All of us normal people know that's not good. All of us normal people, though.

Starting point is 00:17:58 That's a little excessive. So do you think that that's going to have an effect on recruiting or is that something that's like, eh, that's so in the weeds, most 17, 18-year-olds and even guys in the portal might not care? I would think that most 17-year-olds wouldn't care much because they're not bevy to all that information. You know, like we're talking about tons of documents they don't want to read and couldn't understand anyway. Right. But it's the adults in the room, their high school coaches, the parents, the people that, you know, if you've got a warrior for a dad and he reads it,

Starting point is 00:18:29 he may be a little more nervous, a private business owner. So it would be recruit to recruit. But eventually somebody's going to do an expose on this and say, here are the numbers. Once something like that from a major network, let's say NBC or ESPN would come out, that would be my concern.

Starting point is 00:18:45 And again, this is all speculation, but if you're buying out, you have to either, A, have the money, which they obviously don't, if they're doing other renovations in barley. They don't have it.

Starting point is 00:18:54 And they also have that too. So you're not going to have one, well, you're going to have multiple, getting bonds or whatever. Do they find a way to get some booster to help them out? They need somebody eventually to pony up and write a big check, even if it's partial. Like a show of good faith, for lack of a term, again, I'm not a banker, but the math is awful. It's not a good look. So the only other thing I'll add to this is if they're going to do this stuff and they can't admit to any of this yet, one of the two conferences that matter.

Starting point is 00:19:24 We know which two they are. It's got to be able to help them with some kind of up front, like over 10 years you get X number of dollars. Well, instead of in five years, you get half of it, maybe you get 75% because we're trying to help you out. And then on the back end, you don't get as much so you can pay off some of the difference. There's got to be something like that that they're working on

Starting point is 00:19:41 because they're just going to get eaten alive by interest. And it's just like, if anything else comes along that you need to do, like you hire a big time coach, eight-year contract, and he's a bomb. After year three, and you got five more years on the hook at $10 million. That's 50 mil more you got. I mean, like, these are things that happen. You got basketball, you got baseball, you got women's athletics,

Starting point is 00:20:02 you got other facilities that got to get improvements. It's not going to stop with Doke Campbell in a new football only facility. I know I'm being negative here, but like money just, it doesn't go away. They come for it. They will get their money. I know. So we need to. We all do.

Starting point is 00:20:20 I was just about to say, we all know that one. Donald's getting rid by a different house. I'm sure he thinks about it a lot every day. I have nightmares about these interest rates, Brian. I mean, I go to bed at night and I'm like 7%. What is this? Don't get to be started on the political side of that. I mean, like it's just killed our economy down there, even if Florida.

Starting point is 00:20:41 Like you said, the buggy man under the bed now is the 7.5% interest rate. That's the buggy man. Right now it is. I'm on you, Don, no. I'm on you. But you're absolutely right. Right. As the old saying goes, he who understands compound interest makes it, he who doesn't

Starting point is 00:20:58 pays it. And this sounds like there's going to be a lot of paying it. So I absolutely, I don't think you're being negative so much as you're telling the reality of, this is a reality where you're going to be on the paying end of this for quite some time. I just don't think that when the next wave of opportunity comes like, okay, you need something else, whatever it is, unless they find that booster who can write that check that's just astronomical, how are you even? going to do that.

Starting point is 00:21:23 Right. Basketball coach, payout a football coach, whatever, where it's just like, it is what it is. There's no negotiation here. You're on the hook. Who's going to do that when you owe $400 million? Who's going to get them a loan? Really? Great point.

Starting point is 00:21:38 I mean, Florida State's probably not the only school in similar situations. They just got the added, like the whole ACC thing. It's just a disaster because it's going to take forever. They're going to drag it out. They're going to try to pressure Florida State into a high number because they want to get to another league. ACC's got quite a few cards in their hand, too. So this is going to be an ugly rock fight for quite a lot.

Starting point is 00:22:00 Well, I'd like Brian to put on his recruiting expert hat because, you know, we talk a lot in our separate shows as well. I'm sure Kenton and Grayson talks so much about NC State recruiting. I talk a lot about Miami recruiting, Florida State recruiting gets brought up a ton, Clemson. Anybody in the ACC, Brian, who's flying under the radar a little bit who you think, man, this school is going to have a really good class of 2025 and not a lot of people are talking about it. Syracuse. And if you'd have asked me that six months ago, I'd have said crack is a very

Starting point is 00:22:32 dangerous drug. I'd just that's just a bad idea. There are all kinds of rehabilitation centers. We can help you. But being serious, hey man, they went out and got a head coach, Fran Brown, that he enjoys it. I've met him on the recruiting trail in South Florida. He's real, deal recruiter and he hired a couple guys on his staff that can get it done now let me be clear they got 19 commitments right now a lot of three-star kids about a high upside kids but they wouldn't even got the majority of the kids they have committed right now to take ovies under the last staff that's reality and here's the kicker and this will make dono mad so i i just go ahead and say this in 26 he's got two elite kids from florida that every school in the country wants already committed like four five-star guys

Starting point is 00:23:19 and I'm like out of four I get I was talking to John Garcia about it the other day I'm like we were watching one of them at the OT 7 term I'm like Syracuse has someone explained to those kids what winter is there well I have a feeling like Kinton was saying those conversations will take place yeah at some point I'm not I'm not hating on Syracuse this is just a warning to any Florida based high school football player you need to at least under understand what you're getting into once that, you know, once that calendar turns over. Syracuse is on the border of Canada, literally. Now, you all see how Dono's dress. He's dressed like that. For those of you who are listening and not watching, he has on the vacation Hawaiian shirt with the fedora.

Starting point is 00:24:08 He's dressed for warm weather. Now, I would tell you, it's not just because it's May. Floridian's dressed like that for about 80% of the year, okay? She just happened to be what I was wearing today, and I rolled. You throw two ice cubes on the ground in Florida. Everything shuts down. You throw eight feet of snow in New York. They bring out the plows.

Starting point is 00:24:25 They bring out the shovels. They bring out the salt. Keep it, bro. But we're not here to knock him. I do think that Fran Brown, I've heard that he's a fantastic recruiter, but I think that this is a seeing-gist-believing type of situation because I do agree that the things that I've heard about him on a recruiting trail

Starting point is 00:24:43 so far than 2025 class, it's hard to wrap my mind around because this is like, Like even when you think back to, you know, when I was a little little kid, when you had McNabb and all those guys in Syracuse and Dwight Frady, I believe, was the other guy. Oh, yeah, white was there. You didn't have recruiting to this level at Syracuse. It just wasn't a thing.

Starting point is 00:25:02 So to see this under Fran Brown is like, it's mind-blowing a little bit. Give him credit, though. I mean, it's not like they were lightening it up of late. No. And now he's got kids that have offers for the likes of Miami or whoever, Georgia, etc taking visits and committing I don't know if they'll get all these guys across the finish line in December I before anybody

Starting point is 00:25:26 asked I have no idea and that's the legit question because it's a long way to December it's hard for Miami to keep local kids one alone Fray and Brown at Syracuse so I just think it's amazing because that program I thought was dead yeah me too the On 3 podcast that does

Starting point is 00:25:46 the entire country but Ellie and all those guys, they had a discussion last year if Syracuse was one of the worst five jobs in Power Five because of the location in recruiting. The state of New York sucks for football. It's not near New York City. It's way up north. And they haven't been good in a while. They're like, do you really want to take that job? But Fran is a New Jersey guy, took it. He's recruited that area well, and he's snuck in some southern kids too. I mean, he's killing it. Now I just need to see him finish. Like, Kenton said, you know, can they win some games this year, Solidify? Because I don't think the roster is anywhere near where it needs to be.

Starting point is 00:26:26 So we'll see, but they've at least started good at recruiting. Good for them. It's nice to see somebody besides the obvious three to five schools be good. ACC has been really lopsided for a long time. I mean, it's bad. And there hasn't been new blood breakthrough. Like Virginia Tech used to be good. Virginia.

Starting point is 00:26:45 Those schools have been terrible. They have. Let's just call it what it is. They've been terrible. They're in Texas at least taking a step forward. They got a quarterback. But some of these other schools, like, man, like Lake Forest fell off last year again, and it's just Duke just lost their code.

Starting point is 00:26:57 Like the league could be really unbalanced this year. Could even be worse. It's possible. So it'd be nice if at least Syracuse was building for something. We'd get a little new blood down the road. Then there's Georgia Tech. That's possible, too. Well, excellent stuff, as always by Brian Smith.

Starting point is 00:27:12 You can watch him on Locked on Seminels, watch him all over this network talk and recruiting, and follow him on X at FB, out underscore Florida. Brian, thank you so much for the time. Absolutely. Appreciate it, sir. Folks, we're not done yet on this episode of Locked on ACC, my friends, because ESPN lost some money on their streaming service. Disney is doing very well. The ESPN side of it, not as much, is this can affect the ACC. You want to keep it locked right here on this brand new episode of Locked on ACC. And I already know you're keeping it locked to Monopoly Go.

Starting point is 00:27:51 I'm fully hooked, my friends. We got to pause here to talk more about Monopoly Go. I know what you're saying. Flag on the play. You already talked about that. There's just so much good stuff in this game. In Monopoly Go, you can team up with friends for timed tournaments, where you work together to build up each other's boards.

Starting point is 00:28:05 The more you win together, the more awesome prizes you unlock. And there's so much to get, like, unique stickers. You can trade with friends to complete albums for big prizes, cool new playing pieces to travel the boards with hilarious emojis for taunting friends when you smash their buildings or heist their vines, Plus, Monopoly Go feels new and exciting every day with constantly changing tournaments and challenges. A ton include their own unique mini games like digging for treasure or a robot Pichinko machine. And there's always new timed events that help you win big, like massive multipliers for everything you win or rent frenzies.

Starting point is 00:28:38 There is always something fun to discover in Monopoly Go. So get off the bench and go download it now free on Google Play or the app store. When it comes to your financial future, you think you've done it all. You've saved, you've researched, you've invested all that you can. Now, you need to take those investments to the next level by using what every financial great uses. Yahoo Finance. For more than 25 years, Yahoo Finance has been the brand behind every great investor.

Starting point is 00:29:07 Whether you're a seasoned investor or looking for that extra guidance, Yahoo Finance gives you all the tools and data you need in one place. They are the number one finance destination, producing a holistic look at the financial news, cycle, including breaking news, original editorial perspectives, analyst ratings, independent research, customizable charts, and so much more. Securely link your brokerage accounts for a unified view of your wealth, including 401k and other investments. A comprehensive perspective is what sets apart great investors, and it's how Yahoo

Starting point is 00:29:38 finance ensures you have the insight to look at your wealth in its entirety. With a community of over 90 million users each month, their real strength is helping you on your way to financial success. For comprehensive financial news and analysis, visit the brand behind every great investor, yahoofinance.com, the number one financial destination, yahoofinance.com.

Starting point is 00:30:02 That's yahoofinance.com. Thank you so much for making this episode of Locked on ECC, your first listen and your first watch today. So, Kenton, Disney, who does own ESPN, Disney had some really good quarterly financial news overall, their streaming services are crushing it. ESPN Plus, which my son's addicted to. And of course, you know, my wife and I as well,

Starting point is 00:30:31 you got all the Marvel catalog, Star Wars catalog, and everything Disney's ever made is on Disney Plus. Hulu has got a lot of good stuff, some unique original shows and mainstream TV and all that. They're both making money hand over fist right now. ESPN Plus, though, ESPN streaming service lost. I believe the number was about 65 million, 65 million in the negative last quarter. And I've seen some reactions, probably overreactions from, you know, some Florida state fans

Starting point is 00:31:01 who are looking for any reason for the conference to get squash. Like, wait, ESPN Plus is losing money, Kenton, or at least they lost money last quarter, quite a bit of it, I think. I think you'd probably define 65 million as quite a bit of money over a three-month period. Oh, for sure. that means once that network option rolls around ESPN's definitely going to look

Starting point is 00:31:22 to drop the ACC. I don't know if any insiders are actually saying that that would be a reason for them to do that. What do you think? Well, there's a fun league that they get paid about or that they are estimating they're going to have to pay about 2.6

Starting point is 00:31:39 billion dollars, billion with a B for it's some league where I believe it's like it's like the WNBA but all guys some along those lines um who would want to watch that right uh you know but anyway you got to pay 2.6 billion to the NBA and to that I look at this thing because of course ESH ABC has the finals right so the finals ABC ABC is under what parent company Disney Disney ESPN boom boom boom boom okay we got that out of the way here's why I say that didn't we have this conversation not too long ago about ESPN and their spending habits?

Starting point is 00:32:21 It's never the leagues that get cut. Here's what they're going to do. The same thing that we saw before when they put up that huge deal to the NBA not too long ago. It was, oh, man, are we sure they can afford all this? Next thing you know, all of these talents got slashed. All of these folks that were on there, all of these great producers who've been there for 15 years, all of a sudden, their role was no longer necessary. I don't see the ACC as being up on the chopping block because, again,

Starting point is 00:32:51 there are other conferences that they're also paying a good amount of money for that they are not seeing the return on, quote, unquote, in terms of if you're looking at ESPN and entire leagues that fit that description as well. So I think that this is, you know, I'm not going to say it. Actually, no, I am going to say it. Florida State fans are feeling a little bit. bit like Drake fans during this beef, looking for any angle to be like, ah, we won. We won because, ah, we're going to win. Here's why we're going to win it. You know, you just don't know it yet.

Starting point is 00:33:23 And it's kind of pathetic at this point. It's like, just let things play out. Is it possible that the ACC doesn't get renewed when they're up for renewal in 2020, about? Absolutely. But that's why, that's why everybody on this show agrees. The ACC is basically in a fight to drag their feet as long as possible because if you can drag Florida State and Clemson over that finish line, you still have the two big dogs that the two big carrots to dangle and say, ah, you got to give us something. Talk to me. Without them, I think it's a different situation, but I'm tending to believe that this is being oversensationalized. Well, yeah, and you're right that usually when ESPN needs to save money and this is an unfortunate side of the business, that they tend

Starting point is 00:34:09 to cut people, not properties. That does tend to be something that they do. The other thing is, even if they were to start cutting properties, you know, people act like ACC sports and ACC football. They act like that's dead weighed. If you've logged into your ESPN Plus at any point and actually explored how many different sports and leagues that no one would ever care to watch are on there, if they're going to start trimming the fat on, I don't think ACC football is where they would

Starting point is 00:34:38 start trimming the fat. And obviously, you know, when it comes to like darts and lacrosse, I'm sure that those rights don't cost, you know, probably pennies on the dollar. I get it. But there's certainly a lot of other fat that they could trim there. And then the other thing is ESPN Plus in general. And I think Bob Eiger, the CEO of Disney, did talk about what they want to do with ESPN streaming. ESPN Plus in itself, I'm not that surprised that it's losing money because it's, it's all supplementary stuff that you don't get. through your regular ESPN subscription.

Starting point is 00:35:12 Like you subscribe to ESPN through your conventional satellite or cable service or even some non-conventional stuff like YouTube TV. ESPN Plus is a fee you pay for extra stuff that's not even available on the main networks, right? I can understand why a lot of people don't justify budgeting for that. Disney is actually going to be rolling out, I think, sometime next year, I think 2025 is what they said, where they're going to be making digital only subscriptions to actual ESPN, which I think is something that people who have cut the cord on their regular cable might actually say,

Starting point is 00:35:43 you know what? I don't think it's necessary to pay for all this supplemental ESPN plus programming. But if this is one of the only ways I can watch ESPN from a purely digital standpoint, and I'm getting the real network and all their actual properties, I would be willing to pay for that. So I think there is a way to make ESPN streaming ventures profitable. But we've covered a lot today, Kent, and we're going to cover a lot again tomorrow as well on a new episode. of Lockdown ACC. So make sure you smash that like button and subscribe.

Starting point is 00:36:12 Make sure to support our other shows. Kenton co-hosts Locked-on Wolfpack. I host Locked on Cains, and we will talk to everyone again tomorrow on another episode of Locked on ACC. Part of the awesome Lockdown Podcast Network. Your team every day.

Locked On ACC - Daily College Football & Basketball Podcast - The Real Reason Why FSU Is Borrowing $327 Million | Under The Radar Recruiting From THIS Coach

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.