League Solidarity

The Aggie club of San Antonio hosted an SEC tailgate this year. It is an idea I will totally steal for San Antonio and the local alumni club.

League solidarity is a curious idea and one that is seemingly only confined to the SEC and that seemingly has become intertwined with a general sense of Southernness in culture than anything. For example: True South, a series on SEC Network just explores southern towns for some reason.

The Chant — that “ESS EEE SEE” one, is relatively new and started when Arkansas abandoned the Big Twelve for the new league.

The connection in this league is one of Little Brother. Each program is second or third or farther down in their respective state when it comes to resources and fan support.

It is more like a support group than a conference of equals with mutual respect. So it goes.

There is wisdom in dancing with the one you came with, however. The constant pitting of G5 schools against each other keeps everyone from working together better to achieve something like success.

The money is in the hands of the big schools and there is little reason to argue it should be spread a bit more.

Bein Sports made a play thinking that CUSA fans care enough about their teams to expand their subscriptions and add that channel to their TV package. Instead, there were complaints and Bein did not renew their support.

Meanwhile, SEC fans are supporting the hell out of SEC Network, an additional cost. ESPN, for its part, knows this and can increase the fee to subscribers to add SEC to the package. They know the fans of SEC schools will pay for it.

On the other hand, it is hard to get excited to pay for Bein and whatever television package when the production is so poor. ESPN+ productions in El Paso are seemingly always slapdash and filled with rookie mistakes.

The broadcasts in Denton, San Antonio, and Birmingham are better but still boast 5th tier talent calling the games.

It is the classic chicken-and-egg argument. Certainly an investment needs to be made somewhere but I cannot guarantee that whoever does it will recoup their investment.

Beyond that the alternative is having solidarity. Find the local CUSA fans and get together in your town. They may be the only ones that can understand your plight.