Intended or hilariously unintended choice of words here?: “The PAC-12 CEO’s Group is COMPROMISED of the presidents and chancellors of the member universities.”
I'm not sure why collegiate sports is so hung up on trying to get a ever shrinking pool of money derived from cable tv when streaming services are the obvious future. The Pac 10 is literally where the future is being made in streaming and many of the people working to power this future come from Pac 10 schools so why not build on that? The Pac 10 should build a streaming service using Disney's knowhow and then later strike a SPAC deal and go public. Probably be valued in the multi-billions. And the audience for streaming services are going to want to watch teams like Oregon, Stanford, Cal and UDub, not my father's alumni Oklahoma or the other Midwest and Southern schools because a lot of the audience would potentially come from overseas, East Asia in particular. This seems to me to be future for monetizing collegiate athletics. If done correctly, the current 70+ million USC and UCLA are getting from their Big 10 deal will be trivial in comparison. And maybe all this newfound money will be a way to reduce the crazy tuition costs for all the students.
One of the mysteries to me is why the pac 12 hasn’t been more successful in tapping into all the tech companies on the west coast for a big dollar media deal. Amazon, Apple, Google, Disney, Meta, etc. I know they aren’t always run by conference grads (Tim Cook, Apple, Auburn, etc) but there must be some influence.
Also, I’m wondering if there is a quality play to be made here to differentiate the PAC from other conferences: subscription based 4K streaming, games played at better times, no FCS teams on the schedule, best practice sharing on stadium fan experience to boost attendance significantly, speeding up games, improved refereeing & announcers.
What nobody is talking about is why the universities need all this additional money. The big programs don’t. Oregon, UW, USC, Ohio State…sure, they’ll gladly take another $50 million, but the reality is, they’re already in the black today. I wonder how much of this is just “he got more so I need to also”.
My dad read my three siblings and I the Narnia series when I was growing up. Now, my wife and I are working through them again together. We just finished the Horse and His Boy. Love those books and C.S. Lewis. I'm looking forward to reading the Narnia books to my daughter when she's old enough. Go Ducks!!
I'm sure John will dedicate a future email to this topic, but I read Dame's comments in ESPN about staying in Portland. You have no idea how refreshing it is to read an athlete's comments that he won't compromise his ethics just to win a championship. Clearly, he can't be wooed to a better team that would increase his chances to win an NBA title because of money--he has all of that!! The state of Oregon has admired some pretty good former Blazers but, in my honest opinion, they don't hold a candle to Lilliard! He is a man who is true to his word, and his word is his bond!!
Of course, there will always be a faction of people who doubt his sincerity--that's always been part of society's flaws. I'm sure Dame ignores them so I will too. It gives me a greater sense of pride in the team, and an increased amount of hope.
Can't wait for your next email, John!! Love the Narnia reference--our pastor has used various Narnia movie clips to supplement his message. Not long ago, my wife and I binge-watched all of them.
Seems like the leaders of Pac 12 schools will have to compromise if they want to add new members. They've been unwilling to take private schools, those with religious affiliations, Cal State institutions or basically anyone that's not an AAU member. Haven't they painted themselves into a corner?
Given that there are no good money options for the remaining Pac schools, except trying to jump to the Big10 or SEC, which doesn't sound likely, perhaps they should emphasize football recruiting in their realignment decisions. Demographic shifts and HS participation rates have changed the scene significantly. In 247's 2022 player rankings, Georgia had 50% more blue chip recruits than CA, FL had 77% more, and TX had double. AL, LA, TN, NC all have at least as many blue chips as Ohio and PA and more than any other western state.
California is not the recruiting hotbed it once was, particularly for linemen. Neither is the Big10 geography. And the SEC schools, Ohio State, and ND are always going to pick off a portion of elite western recruits. Nebraska's switch from a TX-centric conference was terrible for their competitiveness, despite money gains. USC and UCLA certainly are better positioned for recruiting, but I'm guessing they might wind up with challenges in fielding national championship caliber team talent.
So, that's a long-winded way of saying the Pac schools should focus realignment on current football recruiting hotbeds. The state of Texas is the largest, closest, and most likely to be able to convince recruits to come west for school. Realignment really needs to focus on TX colleges for exposure there.
Intended or hilariously unintended choice of words here?: “The PAC-12 CEO’s Group is COMPROMISED of the presidents and chancellors of the member universities.”
Adding Baylor, Houston. SMU and SDSU has a nice appeal. You get a big chunk of Texas and keep a presense in SoCal.
I'm not sure why collegiate sports is so hung up on trying to get a ever shrinking pool of money derived from cable tv when streaming services are the obvious future. The Pac 10 is literally where the future is being made in streaming and many of the people working to power this future come from Pac 10 schools so why not build on that? The Pac 10 should build a streaming service using Disney's knowhow and then later strike a SPAC deal and go public. Probably be valued in the multi-billions. And the audience for streaming services are going to want to watch teams like Oregon, Stanford, Cal and UDub, not my father's alumni Oklahoma or the other Midwest and Southern schools because a lot of the audience would potentially come from overseas, East Asia in particular. This seems to me to be future for monetizing collegiate athletics. If done correctly, the current 70+ million USC and UCLA are getting from their Big 10 deal will be trivial in comparison. And maybe all this newfound money will be a way to reduce the crazy tuition costs for all the students.
One of the mysteries to me is why the pac 12 hasn’t been more successful in tapping into all the tech companies on the west coast for a big dollar media deal. Amazon, Apple, Google, Disney, Meta, etc. I know they aren’t always run by conference grads (Tim Cook, Apple, Auburn, etc) but there must be some influence.
Also, I’m wondering if there is a quality play to be made here to differentiate the PAC from other conferences: subscription based 4K streaming, games played at better times, no FCS teams on the schedule, best practice sharing on stadium fan experience to boost attendance significantly, speeding up games, improved refereeing & announcers.
What nobody is talking about is why the universities need all this additional money. The big programs don’t. Oregon, UW, USC, Ohio State…sure, they’ll gladly take another $50 million, but the reality is, they’re already in the black today. I wonder how much of this is just “he got more so I need to also”.
My dad read my three siblings and I the Narnia series when I was growing up. Now, my wife and I are working through them again together. We just finished the Horse and His Boy. Love those books and C.S. Lewis. I'm looking forward to reading the Narnia books to my daughter when she's old enough. Go Ducks!!
I'm sure John will dedicate a future email to this topic, but I read Dame's comments in ESPN about staying in Portland. You have no idea how refreshing it is to read an athlete's comments that he won't compromise his ethics just to win a championship. Clearly, he can't be wooed to a better team that would increase his chances to win an NBA title because of money--he has all of that!! The state of Oregon has admired some pretty good former Blazers but, in my honest opinion, they don't hold a candle to Lilliard! He is a man who is true to his word, and his word is his bond!!
Of course, there will always be a faction of people who doubt his sincerity--that's always been part of society's flaws. I'm sure Dame ignores them so I will too. It gives me a greater sense of pride in the team, and an increased amount of hope.
Can't wait for your next email, John!! Love the Narnia reference--our pastor has used various Narnia movie clips to supplement his message. Not long ago, my wife and I binge-watched all of them.
Thanks for the solid coverage of this mess.
What do you think of Sally Jenkins article in the Post yesterday? Whoa!
Color : Blue
You too???
Seems like the leaders of Pac 12 schools will have to compromise if they want to add new members. They've been unwilling to take private schools, those with religious affiliations, Cal State institutions or basically anyone that's not an AAU member. Haven't they painted themselves into a corner?
Given that there are no good money options for the remaining Pac schools, except trying to jump to the Big10 or SEC, which doesn't sound likely, perhaps they should emphasize football recruiting in their realignment decisions. Demographic shifts and HS participation rates have changed the scene significantly. In 247's 2022 player rankings, Georgia had 50% more blue chip recruits than CA, FL had 77% more, and TX had double. AL, LA, TN, NC all have at least as many blue chips as Ohio and PA and more than any other western state.
California is not the recruiting hotbed it once was, particularly for linemen. Neither is the Big10 geography. And the SEC schools, Ohio State, and ND are always going to pick off a portion of elite western recruits. Nebraska's switch from a TX-centric conference was terrible for their competitiveness, despite money gains. USC and UCLA certainly are better positioned for recruiting, but I'm guessing they might wind up with challenges in fielding national championship caliber team talent.
So, that's a long-winded way of saying the Pac schools should focus realignment on current football recruiting hotbeds. The state of Texas is the largest, closest, and most likely to be able to convince recruits to come west for school. Realignment really needs to focus on TX colleges for exposure there.
Good as always. Thanks, JC.