Yep. I agree. The college football I grew up with is dead. The question is whether or not I have the heart to change with the times. I know I am not the only one that isn't interested in the trajectory of the highest level of NCAAF.
I used to LOVE the NFL. I cannot tell you the last time I sat down on a Sunday to watch a game. It changed and I walked away. How many out there are like me?
Hi John, living in the suburbs of Raleigh NC I am reading the ACC perspective of the changing football landscape. I am reading in the News and Observer (Raleigh and Charlotte) news papers stories like I hear from you about Pac-12 and other alignments. I almost get dizzy with all the options they are coming up with. Who’s in and who’s out but not much mention of working with PAC-12 yet. Keep up the good work I look forward to your new and perspective. Rich Haugh
Most of Wazzu’s alums live on the West Side, but none of these market geniuses ever want to include the Cougs in the Sea-Tac-Eve region for TV purposes.
I thought this was interesting from a John Wilner article.
"With regard to Fresno State, we’ll say this:
California’s Central Valley is home to 6.5 million people — it’s the equivalent of Seattle and Portland combined — and a good portion of them are Bulldogs fans."
I never knew that the population was that large and a large percentage as Hispanic which is a growing demographic. I know the institution doesn't fit academically but you add this and San Diego it's a lot of people.
Good stuff today. This all gets settled by who wants to pay out the most TV money. Period. If some more P12 teams add value to what Fox wants to pay for B10 then they end up there. It feels like P12/B12 merger/takeover is best deal because it would likely by ESPN with more time slots available. Some egos will get bruised and I’m not sure everyone gets invited.
I've been saying for years that the bowl games should be incorporated into an expanded playoff. It seems so obvious for so many reasons. In a world where $ is the driver, making the games matter more will keep players and viewers engaged. Win/win/win.
I know it's not mentioned as often (John did on the radio yesterday) but Rutgers also = increased interest in Philadelphia, PA TV market as well, which I think is around the same size as Seattle's (in a much more dense geographic area).
As a former bowl director, I'd like to agree with Schipper, but in all likelihood, the early round playoffs are going to be played in campus stadiums. So, unfortunately, the conference realignment and expansion of the College Football Playoff are both likely to hurt bowls more than help them. The damage done to the Rose Bowl by last week's defection of USC and UCLA, for example, was a major blow to the Granddaddy of Them All, and the other Pac-12 partner bowls (Alamo, Holiday, Las Vegas and Sun) can't be very happy right now with the league's two most attractive teams going away.
Hoping you will say a few words soon about Sabrina's Liberty game. It was a barn burner! No one can do ANY kind of a triple-double, let alone multiples, without being surrounded by the right teammates. Her interview at the end of the game spread the credit around.
I’d like it if you could dig into actual television audiences for the different programs rather than simple household counts. Attendance at USC and UCLA games is miserable and I have to imagine the last several years of viewership in LA had been miserable too. It’s the same as counting the NYC media market as an asset for Rutgers. People in the northeast don’t care about college football, the biggest draw, and only a small fraction of the NYC market cares about Rutgers. I have to imagine media rights negotiators are more sophisticated than these simple market size analyses but that’s all I’m reading. The one exception being ND but maybe they have an individual agreement that demonstrates the value of their viewership rather than just their market. I raise this because Oregon’s actual viewership should make them a much more attractive target but this narrative is nowhere.
I agree. Years ago, the bowl games were meaningful. Nowadays there are so many that I expect to one day see "The Salad Bowl" "The Finger Bowl" "The Cereal Bow" and last but not least, "The Toilet Bowl" because there aren't already enuf bowl games to go around.
As a sidebar-the last couple days on your radio show, you questioned if we've changed the way we view sports. Absolutely. I typically DVR games or Races I want to see and start watching from the beginning about halfway thru the broadcast so I can fast forward thru all of the ads. This also makes it possible for me to get other necessary thing accomplished, like work, honey-do's, etc. and still manage to catch the sport event. Also, with the advent of Red Zone, one can see all of the important plays that occur.
Lastly-yesterday when you were discussing fireworks and "premature explosion" and "premature eruption" Anna laughing in the background killed me. Had me in tears I was laughing so hard-damn near wrecked the car...
By the way, the numbers in that table are dubious and do not tell the whole story. Maybe for a high level glance. For starters, you are counting San Diego for big 10 and pac 12 today. Why?
There are Schools, or even combos of schools that stretch an entire state. Oregon and Oregon state bring All of Oregon. Sure Portland is the biggest market in the state, but that only accounts for less than 1/3 of what is happening. If the goal is to measure "maximum reach", then this report is flawed.
All this focusing on paper numbers is a mistake. Reports and numbers can be manipulated to arch in any direction. (I do it for a living) I'm not trying to say that there isn't value in knowing the numbers, what I am saying is, it never accounts for nuances. And college football is nothing if it isn't nuanced.
What was that saying, "For the love of the game." College football or basketball, no matter. It should be for the love of the game; those exciting plays, kids hugging each other for working as a team, good sportsmanship, the joy of winning a well played game, even losing but having played your best. Money. Politics. This is not what it should be about. I will watch reruns from the good old days.
Yep. I agree. The college football I grew up with is dead. The question is whether or not I have the heart to change with the times. I know I am not the only one that isn't interested in the trajectory of the highest level of NCAAF.
I used to LOVE the NFL. I cannot tell you the last time I sat down on a Sunday to watch a game. It changed and I walked away. How many out there are like me?
Hi John, living in the suburbs of Raleigh NC I am reading the ACC perspective of the changing football landscape. I am reading in the News and Observer (Raleigh and Charlotte) news papers stories like I hear from you about Pac-12 and other alignments. I almost get dizzy with all the options they are coming up with. Who’s in and who’s out but not much mention of working with PAC-12 yet. Keep up the good work I look forward to your new and perspective. Rich Haugh
Most of Wazzu’s alums live on the West Side, but none of these market geniuses ever want to include the Cougs in the Sea-Tac-Eve region for TV purposes.
I'm not knowledgeable enough to have an opinion at this point so I defer to you, John.
I thought this was interesting from a John Wilner article.
"With regard to Fresno State, we’ll say this:
California’s Central Valley is home to 6.5 million people — it’s the equivalent of Seattle and Portland combined — and a good portion of them are Bulldogs fans."
I never knew that the population was that large and a large percentage as Hispanic which is a growing demographic. I know the institution doesn't fit academically but you add this and San Diego it's a lot of people.
Good stuff today. This all gets settled by who wants to pay out the most TV money. Period. If some more P12 teams add value to what Fox wants to pay for B10 then they end up there. It feels like P12/B12 merger/takeover is best deal because it would likely by ESPN with more time slots available. Some egos will get bruised and I’m not sure everyone gets invited.
I've been saying for years that the bowl games should be incorporated into an expanded playoff. It seems so obvious for so many reasons. In a world where $ is the driver, making the games matter more will keep players and viewers engaged. Win/win/win.
I know it's not mentioned as often (John did on the radio yesterday) but Rutgers also = increased interest in Philadelphia, PA TV market as well, which I think is around the same size as Seattle's (in a much more dense geographic area).
As a former bowl director, I'd like to agree with Schipper, but in all likelihood, the early round playoffs are going to be played in campus stadiums. So, unfortunately, the conference realignment and expansion of the College Football Playoff are both likely to hurt bowls more than help them. The damage done to the Rose Bowl by last week's defection of USC and UCLA, for example, was a major blow to the Granddaddy of Them All, and the other Pac-12 partner bowls (Alamo, Holiday, Las Vegas and Sun) can't be very happy right now with the league's two most attractive teams going away.
Hey John,
Hoping you will say a few words soon about Sabrina's Liberty game. It was a barn burner! No one can do ANY kind of a triple-double, let alone multiples, without being surrounded by the right teammates. Her interview at the end of the game spread the credit around.
I’d like it if you could dig into actual television audiences for the different programs rather than simple household counts. Attendance at USC and UCLA games is miserable and I have to imagine the last several years of viewership in LA had been miserable too. It’s the same as counting the NYC media market as an asset for Rutgers. People in the northeast don’t care about college football, the biggest draw, and only a small fraction of the NYC market cares about Rutgers. I have to imagine media rights negotiators are more sophisticated than these simple market size analyses but that’s all I’m reading. The one exception being ND but maybe they have an individual agreement that demonstrates the value of their viewership rather than just their market. I raise this because Oregon’s actual viewership should make them a much more attractive target but this narrative is nowhere.
College Football was founded on traditions, it will be destroyed by greed!
I agree. Years ago, the bowl games were meaningful. Nowadays there are so many that I expect to one day see "The Salad Bowl" "The Finger Bowl" "The Cereal Bow" and last but not least, "The Toilet Bowl" because there aren't already enuf bowl games to go around.
As a sidebar-the last couple days on your radio show, you questioned if we've changed the way we view sports. Absolutely. I typically DVR games or Races I want to see and start watching from the beginning about halfway thru the broadcast so I can fast forward thru all of the ads. This also makes it possible for me to get other necessary thing accomplished, like work, honey-do's, etc. and still manage to catch the sport event. Also, with the advent of Red Zone, one can see all of the important plays that occur.
Lastly-yesterday when you were discussing fireworks and "premature explosion" and "premature eruption" Anna laughing in the background killed me. Had me in tears I was laughing so hard-damn near wrecked the car...
By the way, the numbers in that table are dubious and do not tell the whole story. Maybe for a high level glance. For starters, you are counting San Diego for big 10 and pac 12 today. Why?
There are Schools, or even combos of schools that stretch an entire state. Oregon and Oregon state bring All of Oregon. Sure Portland is the biggest market in the state, but that only accounts for less than 1/3 of what is happening. If the goal is to measure "maximum reach", then this report is flawed.
All this focusing on paper numbers is a mistake. Reports and numbers can be manipulated to arch in any direction. (I do it for a living) I'm not trying to say that there isn't value in knowing the numbers, what I am saying is, it never accounts for nuances. And college football is nothing if it isn't nuanced.
What was that saying, "For the love of the game." College football or basketball, no matter. It should be for the love of the game; those exciting plays, kids hugging each other for working as a team, good sportsmanship, the joy of winning a well played game, even losing but having played your best. Money. Politics. This is not what it should be about. I will watch reruns from the good old days.
For years it's been six wins gets a team into a bowl? How is that relevant? You can't sneak the word "champion" into that paragraph.