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Pac-12 expansion is now inevitable

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http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/02/...ding-revenue-deficit-relative-to-sec-big-ten/
 
http://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/Some-ADs-grumble-about-Pac-12-Networks-10910339.php

There is also concern that the Pac-12 Networks have failed to reach a distribution agreement with DirecTV, the nation’s largest satellite provider with 22 million subscribers. The perception grows that the Pac-12 is falling behind in both viewership and profitability. ...

But those advances haven’t stemmed the criticism. The inability to land DirecTV, in particular, “is making the gap bigger and bigger” in comparison with the other conference networks, said Utah’s Hill. ...

Thanks to the various broadcast deals — including the league’s 12-year, $2.7 billion deal with ESPN and Fox Sports — they’ve had to put up with late-starting football games and weekday basketball games. Those late games are hurting football season ticket sales at some schools. At Cal, The Chronicle recently reported, more-frequent kickoffs at 7 and 7:30 p.m., as well as starting times to accommodate TV that often aren’t announced until days before the game, have soured some Old Blues, costing the school in terms of ticket renewals. ...

Another player will enter the competition in a couple of years. The Atlantic Coast Conference, in conjunction with ESPN, will launch its network in 2019. One industry insider thinks that deal “will blow the Pac-12 away.” ...

At one point last year, the Pac-12 considered eliminating the regional networks in favor of one feed. That idea was rejected because one network couldn’t handle all 850 events, a number stipulated by the contracts with service providers.

So, while the Pac-12 Networks continue to give exposure to less visible sports, they apparently risk continuing to lose ground to the other conference networks, at least until the next round of negotiations in 2024.

By all accounts, Scott — who earns $4 million a year — has retained the support of the conference presidents. As he’s well aware, however, a lot of grumbling is going on behind the scenes.
 
run the one network, but stream all the rest with an authenticated provider account. i watched a few Buff games this way last season and it worked fine. plug the computer into the big screen and off you go. wasn't pure hd-stream the whole way, but mostly it was.

do a deal, get distribution.
 
run the one network, but stream all the rest with an authenticated provider account. i watched a few Buff games this way last season and it worked fine. plug the computer into the big screen and off you go. wasn't pure hd-stream the whole way, but mostly it was.

do a deal, get distribution.
They should just have the one network and then have a channel for overflow. Isn't that how the other ones work?
 
They should just have the one network and then have a channel for overflow. Isn't that how the other ones work?

1 overflow isn't enough. just stream all the rest via the website and require an authenticated service provider account for access. everyone wins.
 
1 overflow isn't enough. just stream all the rest via the website and require an authenticated service provider account for access. everyone wins.
Okay then have 2 overflow, the third channel will rarely be used.
 
1 overflow isn't enough. just stream all the rest via the website and require an authenticated service provider account for access. everyone wins.

Yep.

Other conferences (which actually have 2 more teams than us) only create 500 live event broadcasts a year while the Pac-12 is doing 850 with plans to grow that.

I'm all for 1 Pac-12 Network channel as a national feed.

Then, all these other events are streamed.

Is there a way that a local cable provider could choose to have a Pac-12 Alt1 or Alt2 if they so chose that could broadcast whatever it selects from among the streams?
 
Why is the Pac 12 trying to expand on the 850 live broadcasts? Is this many hurting the network?

The presidents love the whole "conference of champions" thing with the commitment to Olympic sports. And the schools that draw the most water, Stanford and USC, don't rely much at all on revenues from Pac-12 Network to be able to fund whatever they want within their ADs.

I think most of the presidents actually see the Pac-12 Network as self-liquidating advertising for the universities. As long as it's not losing money, it's a great marketing & PR generator for the universities that they are very happy with.

We all have to remember that Scott doesn't report to the Athletic Directors, he reports to the University Presidents. Very different missions. If you asked the ADs, they'd be very interested in adding BYU + Houston to the conference tomorrow. CU & UH would become travel partners, as would UU & BYU.
 
The presidents love the whole "conference of champions" thing with the commitment to Olympic sports. And the schools that draw the most water, Stanford and USC, don't rely much at all on revenues from Pac-12 Network to be able to fund whatever they want within their ADs.

I think most of the presidents actually see the Pac-12 Network as self-liquidating advertising for the universities. As long as it's not losing money, it's a great marketing & PR generator for the universities that they are very happy with.

We all have to remember that Scott doesn't report to the Athletic Directors, he reports to the University Presidents. Very different missions. If you asked the ADs, they'd be very interested in adding BYU + Houston to the conference tomorrow. CU & UH would become travel partners, as would UU & BYU.
But is this hurting the P12N?
 
Pac 12 will always be an amateur conference compared to the others as long as the Presidents have this mindset.
It is difficult because the Universities are getting exactly what they want out of the current deal. So the presidents are quite content with the status quo. The AD's need to start making some noise. They can't continue to just grumble behind the scenes because they will get left behind otherwise.
 
It is difficult because the Universities are getting exactly what they want out of the current deal. So the presidents are quite content with the status quo. The AD's need to start making some noise. They can't continue to just grumble behind the scenes because they will get left behind otherwise.
What do the Universities want out of the current deal, that they are happy about? A network that earns peanuts and isn't widely distributed compared to the other conferences? Doesn't anybody outside of the Universities take the "Conference of Champions" schtick seriously?
 
What do the Universities want out of the current deal, that they are happy about? A network that earns peanuts and isn't widely distributed compared to the other conferences? Doesn't anybody outside of the Universities take the "Conference of Champions" schtick seriously?
Presidents probably view athletics as much more of a marketing tool than a real revenue producer, compared to other programs on campus.
 
Sad for the conference our favorite team resides in. Pac 12 will continue to be left behind with this mentality.
For some schools no for others it hurts. The financial resources Stanford, USC, UCLA, Cal and Washington have makes the 10 million or so they are missing out on compared to the SEC seem pretty insignificant.
 
Why not make a major play right now for 2 or 4 teams?

Go after the Big 12. Yeah, we may have to pick up exit fees that cut into short-term conference revenue. Yeah, we may have to restructure some things with the Network and Conference. But it would be completely worth it in the long run.

And if the Pac-12 did this, growing to 14 or 16, then we'd likely force a domino effect that broke the Big 12 as WVU and others were snagged by the SEC, B1G and ACC. If that happened, it would wipe out any financial considerations on the Big 12's Grant of Rights due to a mass exodus of most of the current 10 teams.

I say to be aggressive instead of waiting to see what scraps are left after 10 years (during which time we make the least money and have the worst national coverage & time slots).
 
Why not make a major play right now for 2 or 4 teams?

Go after the Big 12. Yeah, we may have to pick up exit fees that cut into short-term conference revenue. Yeah, we may have to restructure some things with the Network and Conference. But it would be completely worth it in the long run.

And if the Pac-12 did this, growing to 14 or 16, then we'd likely force a domino effect that broke the Big 12 as WVU and others were snagged by the SEC, B1G and ACC. If that happened, it would wipe out any financial considerations on the Big 12's Grant of Rights due to a mass exodus of most of the current 10 teams.

I say to be aggressive instead of waiting to see what scraps are left after 10 years (during which time we make the least money and have the worst national coverage & time slots).
  • OU, OSU, UT and either TT or UH to the Pac 12 (16 teams)
  • TCU and Baylor to the SEC (16 teams)
  • KU and KSU to the Big 10 (16 teams)
  • ND and WVU to the ACC (16 teams)
Iowa State and either TT or UH get frozen out.

Every one plays in a 4 team pod. 4 pod winners play semi-finals and a conference championship. Then a 4 team playoff.
 
  • OU, OSU, UT and either TT or UH to the Pac 12 (16 teams)
  • TCU and Baylor to the SEC (16 teams)
  • KU and KSU to the Big 10 (16 teams)
  • ND and WVU to the ACC (16 teams)
Iowa State and either TT or UH get frozen out.

Every one plays in a 4 team pod. 4 pod winners play semi-finals and a conference championship. Then a 4 team playoff.

It makes so much sense that it will never happen.
 
I don't think adding more teams to a fledgling conference network will help. It's like when disgruntled spouses think having a kid will solve the problem. Need to address the underlying issues first, imo.
 
I don't think adding more teams to a fledgling conference network will help. It's like when disgruntled spouses think having a kid will solve the problem. Need to address the underlying issues first, imo.
Bit different though.

In this scenario, the Pac-12 will add enough "kids" to force the providers to renegotiate rates and distribution.
 
Bit different though.

In this scenario, the Pac-12 will add enough "kids" to force the providers to renegotiate rates and distribution.

Opens up time slots (Central Time Zone programs), recruiting grounds (particularly Texas), and adds everything you say on the package we can sell to media (more games and enhanced national prestige of games).
 
Opens up time slots (Central Time Zone programs), recruiting grounds (particularly Texas), and adds everything you say on the package we can sell to media (more games and enhanced national prestige of games).

Can you imagine a Pac-16 Conference Championship Playoff? UW, USC, CU (lets be honest, we would dominate the Mountain Pod), and OU? Those are big names, big draws, and would be HUGE games.
 
Only picking up large TV markets moves the meter though. Houston, Dallas, entire state of OK. Otherwise we are back to page one of this blog.
 
Only picking up large TV markets moves the meter though. Houston, Dallas, entire state of OK. Otherwise we are back to page one of this blog.

That is kind of Nik's point. The conference should be aggressive in this endeavor. Don't settle for the scraps, go grab the big fish. Have to add UT and OU to even make this conversation worthwhile for the Pac-12.
 
I'm inclined to agree with NIK. Be aggressive. Don't just hang around for the scraps. I'd go with UH, TT, OU and OSU. Let the Whorn's go to SEC or BIG10 and become their problem. I like the idea of Houston.
I believe Houston is a research university.
The metro area has 6,313,158 people which is good for (5th U.S.) Excellent potential for a fan base.
Herman has succeeded in putting them into the national picture in college football.


In some scenario's BYU could be considered as there are over 6,500,000 Mormons in the USA that could represent a fan base.

Another scenario might include KU and KSU from a hoops standpoint, though KSU is a good football school anymore and the fans travel well. Plus Snyder is going to live forever and coach them that long as well.

Whatever the end result is, is for the schools to figure out. To me it all comes down to this.....you can be at the cutting edge or you can be there for the leftovers. I would rather see us at the front of the line.
 
I get all of the financial reasons for doing it...I'm just not sure I want to. I like the mix in the Pac now, with an emphasis on academics (for the most part) and Olympic sports, and true ties to the West. I don't want CU to become a football factory.
 
I get all of the financial reasons for doing it...I'm just not sure I want to. I like the mix in the Pac now, with an emphasis on academics (for the most part) and Olympic sports, and true ties to the West. I don't want CU to become a football factory.
Then the PAC 12 will be irrelevant.
 
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