PAC-12 Chaos

[auggie22]

I agree that getting a media contract to a term sheet should not take this long. That is a bad sign, but none of the Pac 12 schools are heading for the door, so they must think something good is going to happen. One scenario that could fit the fact pattern we are seeing from the Pac 12 is if they are in advanced discussions with the ACC for a merger. That would be a much more complicated deal that a simple media contract, and would take more time. It would result in a good outcome, so if the Pac 12 schools thought it was going to happen, then they would stick around to see it through. And, that scenario would enable the ACC to revisit its undermarket TV contract with ESPN at a time when ESPN has to be nervous about losing a big content provider like the ACC if the ACC did something like merged into the Pac 12.

There was a lot of discussion of a merger in May, and then it quieted down. But a merger, if it was happening, would be on lockdown in terms of communications. Most of the Pac 12 Administrators have been quiet for the last month or so.

I would imagine a merger would open the door to break the GOR, which would almost certainly relieve the ACC of its four most valuable teams. A merger would probably also be the impetus for the BIG to finish its plans, whatever they may be. So it would be the merger of ACC leftovers with the PAC 12 leftovers. Still, probably the best scenario to secure the future of both leagues.

 

[dayooper]

Not even close to the correct analogy.

The key difference is that there was not an obvious next step for Stanford when USC and UCLA left the league. So whether Stanford and the other schools knew the LA schools were leaving or not (I expect that they had an inkling well before it happened) was not going to change anyone's actions. But now, if the Pac 12 has no TV contract, as you and the 5 posters that liked the post above believe, then there is a very clear next step for Stanford. Be the first to abandon ship. Every other school can reach the same conclusion. Yet no one is trying to leave.

You are arguing that the Pac 12 administrators are too stupid to see what you and thousands of message board posters and Twitter "experts" blather about every day. Why are the Pac 12 administrators too stupid to see this but you do?

The #1 priority of the PAC is to stay together under a viable contract. They want to stay together as a conference, but know if the media payout and platforms are not viable, they will have to go their separate ways. The PAC schools would do themselves a disservice if they didn’t wait it out and see what the contract will be. As they want to stay together, they can wait until they either get an acceptable contract or run out of time to integrate into their new homes. At that point, they can make their decision.

Schools like Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Arizona and ASU seem to have a spot all ready while Stanford and Utah might be a bit more dicey. Cal might find a more difficult time finding a home that fits their academic needs. WSU/OSU might just keep the PAC name and combine with the MWC.

I take the reason the contract is taking so long to announce is they don’t have a viable contract to sign. The PAC seems to be waiting on finding partners and it just isn’t happening. I hope they do find partners as the PAC is a staple of college football and to see it decimated is rough.

 

[GoKU]

I think a lot of posters, yourself included, would rather dance on someone else's grave than have UConn succeed. Or maybe you just don't realize what you are advocating.

This "Pac 12 is collapsing" narrative, pushed by Big 12 Twitter posters and amplified by Big 10 posters like the OP of this thread, is an example. There is NO SCENARIO in which The Pac 12 comes apart and it is good for UConn. I have seen a few posters like yourself argue that the Big 12 needs a Pac 12 school to go with UConn. If that is the case, UConn is in trouble, because there is no way just one school leaves the Pac 12. If Colorado heads for the door, they will all be heading for the door, and UConn loses to Washington, Oregon, Arizona, ASU, Colorado, California, and Stanford in that situation. I think we are ahead of Utah, although we are not a lock, and I believe UConn is ahead of Washington State and Oregon State.

The other issue with a Pac 12 collapse scenario is that it would signal that the market for college sports is consolidating, in which case UConn is also dead.

So back to the original question. Why are you rooting for something that would be bad for UConn? Whether you can make anything happen or not, you are advocating for an event on a UConn board that would be very, very bad for UConn if it happened? Are you trolling us? Or do you not realize that the OP has trolled you into rooting for something that would be bad for UConn?

Pay attention man. They just put the Arizona president on the board. They ain't leaving.

 

[NH Husky]

This discussion makes a lot of sense. I’m loving the idea of us an CO to the Big 12. Better yet if Arizona and one of (AZ st or UNLV).
If that were to happen the PAC and ACC would be very wise to negotiate some consolidation.
It would leave four very viable national conferences (national vs regional seems to be the current direction).

 

[jostar1]

 

[huskymedic]

 

[jostar1]

John Canzano is a reporter for the PAC 12.


Canzano: Waking up to East Coast bias
Glaring issue when it comes to exposure, brands, kickoff times.
JOHN CANZANO
JUL 12

NEW YORK — I woke on Wednesday morning in a hotel not far from Central Park.

The sounds of the city climbed from the streets to my window on the 20th floor. Wailing sirens. A driver blasting his horn. That morning chorus came amid a sobering thought — it was still 3 a.m. on the West Coast — and my readers in the Pac-12 footprint were likely asleep.

We’re on an extended family trip to New York. We saw the Statue of Liberty, visited the Natural History Museum and the 9/11 Memorial & Museum.

My three daughters stood on the observation deck of the Empire State Building, watched a Broadway production of “The Lion King” and got to spend time with a couple aunts who live nearby.

(I deleted some talk about his family).

A former newspaper colleague from the West Coast who took a job in the Eastern Time Zone told me that one of the first things he noticed after his move was how much that three-hour time difference mattered when it came to sports habits.

By the time the Pac-12 kicks off a Saturday college football game, the Big Ten, ACC and SEC have saturated the market with highlights, scores, storylines and content.

“Anything west of the Rockies,” he lamented, “feels like it’s happening on another planet.”

The “Pac-12 After Dark” stuff is fun branding. The games are interesting to college football fans in the Pacific Time Zone, but by 7:30 p.m. PT the East Coast is more interested in finding a pillow.

One morning during the current family trip, I waited for noon ET to arrive. I had a column to file, but didn’t want to bother a source before business hours on the West Coast. While I waited, I lamented to my Aunt Sally that posting at 9:45 a.m. Pacific Time probably meant that I was missing a swath of potential readers on the East Coast.

“By that time,” my aunt said, “my day is half over.”

On Tuesday, I watched the MLB All-Star Game from the hotel. The post-game show on FOX featured a roundtable of former star players. Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter and David Ortiz sat on a set at T-Mobile field in Seattle after the National League’s 3-2 victory.

Rodriguez sounded amazed when he said at one point: “The sun isn’t even down here yet.”

The Pac-12 is negotiating its long-awaited media-rights deal. Football Media Day is next week in Las Vegas. I’m left thinking about what a Pac-12 partnership with Apple-TV might do to ease some of those late kickoff times.

The Pac-12 won’t want to go head-to-head vs. the top SEC and Big Ten games. That doesn’t make sense. Also, there’s demand from ESPN and FS1 for the late Pacific Time Zone windows on Thursday, Friday and Saturdays. The conference still covets that linear exposure and the glow it brings. But the Pac-12’s best games shouldn’t be tucked away in those extreme late-night windows on the Pac-12 Network where the rest of the country can’t see them.

Would a deal with a streaming partner give the Pac-12 more control over some of its kick-off times? Certainly, the 7 p.m. or 7:30 p.m. or even 8 p.m. kicks we’ve seen on the Pac-12 Network could slide to 5:30 p.m. or 6 p.m. PT with little consequence. If you’re streaming, the traditional kickoff windows become less vital.

I’ve talked with conference athletic directors in the last few years who not only lament the exposure hit that a 7:30 p.m. PT kickoff brings, but also worry that playing so late hurts football season-ticket sales.

I’m eager to see the Pac-12’s media deal and unpack the details. The revenue matters. The partners matter. But those kickoff times are an interesting sideshow. The competition for your attention should never be a pillow.

 

[Fishy]

The PAC12 has a time zone issue, but it also has something far worse than a time zone issue.

If they go head to head to other conferences, people in the midwest and east coast are simply going to chose not to watch.

Nobody on the east coast is going to pick Stanford-Cal at noon on Saturday.

 

[Hoophound]

The PAC12 has a time zone issue, but it also has something far worse than a time zone issue.

If they go head to head to other conferences, people in the midwest and east coast are simply going to chose not to watch.

Nobody on the east coast is going to pick Stanford-Cal at noon on Saturday.

Yep. I never watch the PAC. Sometimes I do for a minute, but only to ponder who actually watches the PAC. I’d rather watch the Sunbelt.

 

[NowInStorrs]

They also have a network problem. I've rarely ever had the Pac-12 Network on any cable package or streaming service I've had over the years. Even if I want to watch the occasional P12 game, I usually have no way of doing so.

 

[uconnyankee]

Not saying it’s going to happen, or that it’s in the works.
But a Pac/AcC merger or alliance would be interesting. The academics are good enough for Pac and the East-west line up could make for interesting tv line ups.

How much could that league garner, and could it stave off poaching from Big 12?

Nothing will stop Big or Sec from grabbing teams it wants

 

[CoastAtlantic]

Brock Huard just buried that conference:

Brock Huard Calls Pac-12 TV Situation 'Very Dire'

The college football world is awaiting the next move for the Pac-12 Conference, as the entire sport is waiting to see what kind of TV contract offer the league may ultimately land. That will determine the future of the conference, and ultimately the sport. On Friday during his radio show in...

www.heartlandcollegesports.com

 

[Drew]

The PAC really should’ve gone all out on getting into the central time zone in some capacity over the last 12-15 years. They had multiple chances to take teams from the Big 12 and never pulled the trigger. This is their own doing- and should’ve been pretty obvious to anyone paying attention, especially when you realized the numbers Big Noon Kickoff was getting.

The PAC‘s academic component is getting in the way here IMO. Adding 4 schools in the central time zone would really help them.. even mountain time zone could work. But when teams like UNLV, Boise, Memphis are all off the radar because of academics, that means you’re looking at adding just to add with schools like Rice, SMU, Tulane, etc that nobody cares about.

The PAC could do themselves some serious favors by doing what the Big 12 is doing and stretching across multiple time zones to serve multiple roles for their network partners. Instead, they’re trapped in their own regionalist minds, indifferent on football and propping up academics to deter any major football candidates that could help them succeed

 

[WestCoastHusky]

The PAC really should’ve gone all out on getting into the central time zone in some capacity over the last 12-15 years. They had multiple chances to take teams from the Big 12 and never pulled the trigger. This is their own doing- and should’ve been pretty obvious to anyone paying attention, especially when you realized the numbers Big Noon Kickoff was getting.

The PAC‘s academic component is getting in the way here IMO. Adding 4 schools in the central time zone would really help them.. even mountain time zone could work. But when teams like UNLV, Boise, Memphis are all off the radar because of academics, that means you’re looking at adding just to add with schools like Rice, SMU, Tulane, etc that nobody cares about.

The PAC could do themselves some serious favors by doing what the Big 12 is doing and stretching across multiple time zones to serve multiple roles for their network partners. Instead, they’re trapped in their own regionalist minds, indifferent on football and propping up academics to deter any major football candidates that could help them succeed

In the Bay Area, there are just way too many sports entertaining options.

We got the following,:

SF Giants
SF 49ers
Warriors
San Jose Sharks
San Jose Earthquakes
Oakland A's (soon to be Las Vegas)

For colleges, we got:

Stanford
Santa Clara University
USF
San José State
UC Berkeley
San Mary's

We also got great weather so people are out all the time doing outdoor stuff.

People only care to watch college football when they have time. Most Stanford and UC Berkeley fans are fair weather fans. Half of them don't even know their schools are playing most of the time.

Then there is that academic elitism. I can't picture these school alums hanging out with alums of OKST, Baylor, BYU, Cincy, and just about all the B12 schools. The only one they might stomach might be Kansas.

If PAC-12 is smart, they should have added SDSU, Boise ST, UNLV, and SMU. They also got other options like Fresno St, Colorado State, and even Hawaii. Those snobby presidents just won't pull the trigger though.

This conference reminds of the old Big East to a certain extend. They just react vs. doing whatever is necessary to survive.

 

[upstater]

Brock Huard just buried that conference:

Brock Huard Calls Pac-12 TV Situation 'Very Dire'

The college football world is awaiting the next move for the Pac-12 Conference, as the entire sport is waiting to see what kind of TV contract offer the league may ultimately land. That will determine the future of the conference, and ultimately the sport. On Friday during his radio show in...

www.heartlandcollegesports.com

I can't understand the reactions to this, as though the fans owe these players something.

As more and more players get paid, there's going to be a disconnect between the fanbase and the players, because the students will stop looking at the players as students.

This is only natural.

I suppose in Manhattan Kansas where there's absolutely nothing else to do, it will never change.

But Marshawn looking surprised? Come on. What did he expect?

 

[huskymedic]

-> The Pac-12’s long-delayed media rights deal will not be announced at Friday’s football media day, a conference source told The Athletic, in part because of recent developments in the negotiations.

“We’ve seen folks come to the table that were not at the table six months ago,” the person said. “The patience that the presidents and chancellors are showing is paying off, because waiting is going to result in better deals than the league would have gotten three, six, nine months ago.”

The person said there remains no specific timetable for an announcement beyond the “near future.” <-

Farouk and Sportskeeda must have made a call…

​

 

[Ldandy]

“We’ve seen folks come to the table that were not at the table six months ago,”

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Source: New Pac-12 rights deal in 'near future'

The Pac-12 will not announce a new media rights deal Friday, a source told ESPN, but the conference's patience "is about to pay off" in the "near future."

www.espn.com

 

[metsfan2323]

Source: New Pac-12 rights deal in 'near future'

The Pac-12 will not announce a new media rights deal Friday, a source told ESPN, but the conference's patience "is about to pay off" in the "near future."

www.espn.com

"The 10 schools in the conference have prenegotiated the grant of rights deal and agreed on the terms, including how the revenue would be split"

This is big news if true, now we'll find if the B12 ever really wanted us. If they are serious about being the top basketball brand they need us.

ESPN continuing to be the gatekeeper in all of this scares me. I fear rule #1 is alive and well, and very real.

 

[Exit 4]

 

[UConn Dan]

"The 10 schools in the conference have prenegotiated the grant of rights deal and agreed on the terms, including how the revenue would be split"

This is big news if true, now we'll find if the B12 ever really wanted us. If they are serious about being the top basketball brand they need us.

ESPN continuing to be the gatekeeper in all of this scares me. I fear rule #1 is alive and well, and very real.

It was previously reported that they had agreed to the language of the GOR contingent upon agreeing to the media rights. This is not binding and the schools still have an out.

 

[superjohn]

In the Bay Area, there are just way too many sports entertaining options.

We got the following,:

SF Giants
SF 49ers
Warriors
San Jose Sharks
San Jose Earthquakes
Oakland A's (soon to be Las Vegas)

For colleges, we got:

Stanford
Santa Clara University
USF
San José State
UC Berkeley
San Mary's

We also got great weather so people are out all the time doing outdoor stuff.

People only care to watch college football when they have time. Most Stanford and UC Berkeley fans are fair weather fans. Half of them don't even know their schools are playing most of the time.

Then there is that academic elitism. I can't picture these school alums hanging out with alums of OKST, Baylor, BYU, Cincy, and just about all the B12 schools. The only one they might stomach might be Kansas.

If PAC-12 is smart, they should have added SDSU, Boise ST, UNLV, and SMU. They also got other options like Fresno St, Colorado State, and even Hawaii. Those snobby presidents just won't pull the trigger though.

This conference reminds of the old Big East to a certain extend. They just react vs. doing whatever is necessary to survive.

Nothing at all unique about the Bay Area sports entertainment options.

 

[WestCoastHusky]

Nothing at all unique about the Bay Area sports entertainment options.

I know, but people here don't have the greatest interest in college football. They will go to pro games though especially for 49ers, Warriors, and Giants. Stanford and Cal? Not so much.

 

[HuskyHawk]

The PAC12 has a time zone issue, but it also has something far worse than a time zone issue.

If they go head to head to other conferences, people in the midwest and east coast are simply going to chose not to watch.

Nobody on the east coast is going to pick Stanford-Cal at noon on Saturday.

Agreed. And that problem extends to the people in the west as well. Stanford-Cal is a big game in the Bay Area. But very few other games are. Those markets are just not really big college sports markets. Part of that is that people are outdoors because of weather and part of it is a heavy mix of immigrants that aren't even familiar with these sports. I worked with a guy in San Jose from China who became a huge football fan. He's in our fantasy football league, loves it. For every one of him there are a lot that never watched a football or basketball game.

Oregon and Washington game would be watched. As would USC-UCLA, or Arizona basketball. But otherwise it's pretty weak. Colorado probably has appeal again now.

 

[huskymedic]