Maybe it's time.to.stop being west coast passive. What if we try to retain USC and UCLA with a counterproposal. See if you can get ESPN/ABC plus a streaming network like Amazon, Netflix or Apple to outbid Fox, convince 4 big name programs like Ohio, Michigan to defect to the Pac12 with higher payouts. There's a lot of money on the west coast to play with here. It's bold but to win you have to play their game better. Chasing Boise State or Fresno State isn't how win, you beat them at their own game.
What if the Pac-12 were to counteroffer, right now, with an amount greater than or equal to the amounts USC and UCLA will receive from the Big Ten? This would be financed by giving those two schools outsized shares of the Pac-12 newly negotiated media rights deal.
While often alluded to, i believe the University Presidents and ADs aren't receiving enough of the "Larry Scott" blame. They too often stood by and didn't do enough to better manage him. Dave M
Dave, I agree with you. Carol Folt was one of many to allow Scott's misdeeds, only to bolt for greener pastures. How about helping to solve a problem that you allowed?
Carol Folt became USC president in 2019. She hired AD Mike Bohn the same year. Larry Scott received a contract extension from the Pac12 chancellors and presidents at the time in 2017. So Carol Folt had no say in retaining Larry Scott.
This is exactly correct and I've said in other places. The P12 presidents didn't do their jobs by allowing Scott to mismanage the conf athletics for so long. He was an out-of-the-box hire and when his ideas started failing (see P12 network) he should've been fired. The presidents can look in the mirror on this one.
I love the Knight's...They have done so much for Oregon, OSU, and Stanford. That said...The history of mankind dictates that Phil will not be around too much longer to keep bailing out Oregon & the Pac 12. This may be the one last thing he can do to help his beloved Oregon Ducks. Yet at this point I'm not so sure there is much he CAN DO. He can't buy Oregon's way into the big 10, he can't make the big 12 more attractive or powerful...I guess he could fund expansion of Autzen to the point that game attendance would be similar to big 10 sized crowds. But then adding 20,000 more seats and 10,000 more cars on the road would require more infrastructure in and around Eugene...who pays for that? Larry Scott screwed the Pac 12 over in so many ways it's ridiculous! He's been gone a full year and is still screwing it over. Thomas Hansen was a do nothing commissioner, but he did not go out of his way to hurt the conference. Larry Scott went out of his way to hurt the conference...he lavishly spent money on himself year after year, he spent millions on his pet Pac 12 TV studios & productions...yet when it came to actually doing what he promised to the schools who funded all that he was silent...he never came through...The revenue promised, the exposure promised was never delivered, which is why USC/UCLA are now gone, and the Pac 12 is no more. There is a ton of blame to place on Scott, but also the Schools themselves are complicit in this...They could have reigned in Scott, they heard the rumors, they could have fired him for cause, or made him sell the studios, or forced him to allow Fox or ESPN (as they asked to do for big money) to produce the Pac 12 channel...Instead Scott refused and yet the School's chancellors and presidents refused to act. This situation could have been avoided with responsible proactive people in charge...instead we have a disaster on our hands, and the potential for a catastrophe...The problem is...I'm not so sure the knights guidance, money, & influence can fix this one.
I was wondering if anybody else felt this way. Does Oregon become irrelevant and no longer attractive to Big 10 when he passes, maybe they are playing a waiting game.
Sometimes the best defense is to go on the offensive. What the ACC, Pac-12, and Big 12 should consider is forming their own alliance and championship seasons. They completely spit from the Big 10 and SEC.
When I mean split, I mean split. No interconference games with Big 10 or SEC teams’ period in any sports. They create their own playoff system for football. Have their own March madness tournament for basketball. Then create the college world series for baseball and softball.
Basically, you’re creating the AFL-NFL rivalry. The new Alliance would clearly own basketball and they could demand significant revenue from their own March Madness. Then you can leverage this in terms of TV with CBS/Paramount, NBC/Peacock, Amazon, and Apple TV.
Clearly UCLA and USC will want to compete against Pac 12 schools in all the minor sports because of traveling costs. However, if you implement, a ban to include them in any games in any sports, it will drive their profit down.
Additionally, this model would de-value the Big 10 and SEC in terms of ESPN and & Fox. Rating will drop because you have significant rival competing against you. Since the ACC and ESPN already have a TV deal, give them the first shot? They are financially invested and do you think they want to see their SEC deal devalue?
100% this. And HQ that super conference in Vegas. Hold the playoff at Allegiant Stadium and featured games there every Saturday. Mega branding deal with Caesar’s/MGM. We’ve lost LA, but pac12 can still lock down the entertainment capital of the world.
Understand the sentiment but what athletes are okay playing a season of second tier teams? What SEC teams want to play night games on the West Coast? Other than SC and UCLA what west coast teams can carry major TV? The biggest impediment to the PAC is their time zone. That has to be fixed first.
What the PAC 12 has to accomplish is find a way to devalue the Big 10 Product. A merger of the acc, Big 12 and PAC 12 could attain this and the create an alliance of the mid majors two freeze those other conferences by not play any games against them in any sport would financially impact the big 10 and SEC.
War? The games will play at night where two thirds of the country won’t see it. Survival at best. Floats need to move now and accept the reality the left coast can’t compete with Midwest and east coast.
Without reading ALL the comments, it seems very simple. Without the LA market, the PAC 12 is doomed. Poaching a couple of Big12 members is not going to make us attractive enough, and even a merge would not make up the loss. I’m afraid that it’s every university for itself now. So sad.
Jul 2, 2022·edited Jul 2, 2022Liked by John Canzano
One solution:
Make a West Coast Super Conference by joining with ALL of Mountain West.
I know people will say: but we will be weaker... but that is not true. Here is how it flips the narrative:
1. It stops the attrition. Big12 can;t poach us, and will need to do the same with a Group5 conference to stay alive. It gives a solution to ACC as well. Big10 and SEC can no longer poach any teams, and now are the smaller conferences
2. MW has been beating up PAC12 teams like crazy... PAC12 teams have been hanging with SEC and Big10 teams... which means that MW teams are really better than ESPN and those that vote top 25.. they have been subduing Group5 teams for sometime (just ask UCF and others).
3. We regain the SoCal audience
4. We send the message that Big10 and SEC are about have's/have nots... whereas PAC12 is about college athletes and the alumni, to sustain tradition... there is market for both
5. Focus on the travel expenses...and dare I say, excite the woke climate change crowd on how all of this traveling will increase global warming
Flip the narrative... don;t play the game that Big10 and SEC are playing, we will lose everytime... hit them where they are weak... and its easy to see what that is, just go to the comment section of USC and UCLA
That's a non starter...The mountain west has no TV market share. BYU just joined the Big 12. attaching yourself to an already struggling conference is like tying yourself to an anchor and then throwing it over the side. The Pac would be better off going with 10 members than merging with teams with no revenue and no market share. At least Houston of the big 12 has a decent sized TV market...and BYU has a decent sized TV market, and large following (mormons). NO ONE in the mtn. west can come close to them. REVENUE is the key...with revenue comes
exposure, with exposure comes better recruiting. With Better recruiting comes wins, and with wins comes recognition and even better recruiting, revenue, exposure and desirability. without revenue none of that happens unless it's an accident (Utah in 2002).
That's where Kliavkoff comes in. Only he can assess what the networks would pay for such a union. Unless he can garner big money, the concept is a non-starter.
Now we see what GK can do. Unless I missed it The Commish hasn't said boo since the LA schools dropped this turd in the pool. I reckon he and Lord Knight have been talking. I sure hope so.
There simply are no viable solutions for the PAC12 to continue to exist and stay relevant. I can't imagine what PK could do, or would even want to do. Merging with the Big 12 is the only viable option. Even if Oregon and Washington are part of that, it will be viewed as an FCS-like, lower tier conference by the super conferences and will be locked out of national relevance.
So many questions... so many scenarios. The NIL issue was the key rock that set in emotion in this avalanche of college football destruction. Would like to think Uncle Phil will step in...
Scott ran the conference into the ground for years with nary a peep from the ADs, presidents, and press. Only Canzano finally lowered the boom on him, although to be fair it was a few years later than it should have been.
Just not sure what the recommendation is here. Knight calling Kevin Warren will have no impact. If UW and Oregon remain in the PAC, there are no other schools out there to court except Notre Dame who would result in the necessary markets and prestige to get increased TV money. Any other schools like Fresno St, SDSU, etc and they’re getting less money than today, at a time when the SEC and B1G teams are about to get massive increases.
John, we know Larry Scott didn’t do the conference any favors, but how does the PAC12 CEO group escape blame here? Wasn’t Scott just doing their bidding or they at least allowed it to continue far too long. Seems like too many in the CEO group were too happy with status quo feeling no need to play defense or offense until now.
It feels as if we are asking A LOT of Phil Knight: to save the Blazers from moving elsewhere, now to save the Pac-12 from extinction.
With that said, if anyone can, Uncle Phil (and I address him as such respectfully) can, if he is interested. And I can't imagine he wants his two favorite universities to fall by the wayside in this ever-changing landscape of college athletics. Let's hope he is up for this challenge.
Phil Knight is an interesting cat…but, before we bestow sainthood upon him, shouldn’t we be honest about how sincere or benevolent he actually is???…he’s made a fortune producing obscenely overpriced sneakers…products that have been manufactured on the backs child slave labor in Chinese sweatshops…he’s endorsed and promoted the likes of Colin Kapernick and LeBron throughout their careers…even while they were calling for violent protests against law enforcement… he’s the worst kept secret in college athletics when it comes to providing “incentives” for high school athletes to pick Oregon over other suitors while being recruited…I suppose lots of people will say Uncle Phil is no different than the rest of corporate America in selling out to China and the cultural headwinds…but it doesn’t make it right…and just because he passes out $$$$ to get what he wants, doesn’t make him a benevolent savior of anything…what ever decision he makes, you can rest assured that it will be based upon himself and what’s in his best interest…
how typical Mike G bring his leftist politics into a column about saving the PAc 1`2 conference...Hey mike...you didn't mention Adidas, or Reebok, or Puma, or any of the other athletic shoe brands that also use Chinese, or Korean, or Vietnamese, or Indian or Pakistani labor. You didn't mention that those countries allow those types of labor. You didn't mention how you cherry pick your targets, but refuse to condemn those countries themselves for allowing it. You didn't condemn La China for promoting china and it's policies...ONLY Phil Knight...could it be you're a "hater" who also happens to be aligned with OSU??? OH and also Phil knight did not endorse Kaepernick, and La China...Nike did. Phil owns the majority of Nike stock but is not involved with running Nike nor has been for a long time. Nice try.
Jul 2, 2022·edited Jul 2, 2022Liked by John Canzano
Solutions:
Phil Knight enters as a formal partner and persuades two way better teams than SC and UCLA to join the Pac. I am thinking Baylor and Oklahoma State as the most preferred. Nike money helps negotiate a massive media deal with Apple TV or Prime. No need for ESecPN or B1GFox to concern themselves.
Let's use our ingenuity and smarts out here on the west coast to solve this problem = Nike + Apple (or Amazon)
Best move for PAC if Oregon and Washington agree to long term GOR is to expand with B12 Remaining 8 (minus Bayllor and WV).. This enables B12 dissolution since 6 out of 8 can dissolve the conference and no exit fees are owed. Baylor is out due to it’s Baptist affiliation while TCU’s affiliation with Disciples of Christ is extremely loose. Pac16 cuts an all in deal with Apple or Amazon who sub licenses a GOTW to CBS or NBC. Another GOTW can be sub licensed to TNT or USA. This enables Apple or Amazon to carve a large niche in CFB and tell ESPN and Fox to eff off in the process. Start the negotiation at 85% of B10 payouts. Both Apple and Amazon can afford it.
not quite sure about your blatant, anti Church affiliation bias. Notre Dame is connected to the Catholic Church and has a powerful sports following. In fact, Notre Dame becomes a national brand because of its heritage. I don't believe secular institutions represent any moral 'high ground", do you?
Top alumni base in Texas is not Longhorns or Aggies, It's Red Raiders of Texas Tech. Houston does not back Houston Cougars like you think so TT and either San Diego State or UNLV, both with ongoing facilities upgrades and Amazon Prime TV Contract with selling prime times to ESPN/ABC or NBC or CBS. Big10 $1 bill 2024 windfall divided by 14 is $71 mill, 16 is $62 mil. 10 Pac 10 schools would only need a $750m contract from Tech giants to buy their way into TV steaming college FB market of west coast, Texas and Mountain states. So lets hope Jeff Bezos is the one Talking to GK at PAC 10headquarters instead of Uncle Phil
Los Angeles isn't a football city. And from what I've seen, the Ducks are as popular there as USC and UCLA are. There just isn't a huge college football following in SoCal.
Oklahoma brings 40,000 fans to high school games. 90% of OK folks support football..one team or the other (sorry Tulsa). Highways are filled with supporters flying University banners year round. A Rabid fan base* does count for something. (*A person—usually male—who is obsessive about 'his' club or team and schedules his life activities around matches and games and supports his team in ways that others might find odd.)
The only thing that matters is the size of the TV market.
Hell, UCLA & USC are so far down the priority list for most in So Cal, that few even know the difference between the Big 10 & Pac 10, but it matters to the TV folks writing the checks.
Adds SDSU, Boise, Fresno, San Jose, Air Force, SMU, UNLV, Reno, Colorado State and one more for a 32 team Super Conference with 4 eight team divisions, with 4 division champs in playoff for conference. You now dominate western half of country and have TV markets in Seattle, Portland, Bay Area, Fresno and San Diego. Plus Boise, Salt Lake, Denver, DFW, Houston…go big or go home
The goal is relevance for the playoffs…the playoff committee isn’t gonna leave out the western half of the country. The battle is to be the 3rd conference in the mix. My proposal gives more TV markets to a PAC/Big 12 merger than either the BIG10 or SEC. So it would be relevant. Unless your into giving up to a 2 conference system which will suck the life out of college football
That's kind of a super Mountain West conference. It's not at the same level as the B1G or SEC so it would be accepting that we are all now in a lesser (not Power 5 level) league.
Actually it locks up the western half of country and would lead playoff committee to include them or you’d cut off half the country…they’d be the 3rd conference
Phil Knight and ESPN probably won’t save the Pac10, Apple or Amazon have to with competitive payouts to keep Oregon and Washington. They are now Kliavkoff’s lifeboat.
Maybe it's time.to.stop being west coast passive. What if we try to retain USC and UCLA with a counterproposal. See if you can get ESPN/ABC plus a streaming network like Amazon, Netflix or Apple to outbid Fox, convince 4 big name programs like Ohio, Michigan to defect to the Pac12 with higher payouts. There's a lot of money on the west coast to play with here. It's bold but to win you have to play their game better. Chasing Boise State or Fresno State isn't how win, you beat them at their own game.
What if the Pac-12 were to counteroffer, right now, with an amount greater than or equal to the amounts USC and UCLA will receive from the Big Ten? This would be financed by giving those two schools outsized shares of the Pac-12 newly negotiated media rights deal.
no Big10 teams are leaving for like money except Nebraska and their brand has slipped terribly in the last 20 years
While often alluded to, i believe the University Presidents and ADs aren't receiving enough of the "Larry Scott" blame. They too often stood by and didn't do enough to better manage him. Dave M
For sure… presidents enabled Scott.
Dave, I agree with you. Carol Folt was one of many to allow Scott's misdeeds, only to bolt for greener pastures. How about helping to solve a problem that you allowed?
Carol Folt wasn't around for Larry Scott.
S. Smith more like Carol Folt "mostly" wasn't around for Larry Scott. She was there though for the final two years of Scott's disastrous reign.
Carol Folt became USC president in 2019. She hired AD Mike Bohn the same year. Larry Scott received a contract extension from the Pac12 chancellors and presidents at the time in 2017. So Carol Folt had no say in retaining Larry Scott.
This is exactly correct and I've said in other places. The P12 presidents didn't do their jobs by allowing Scott to mismanage the conf athletics for so long. He was an out-of-the-box hire and when his ideas started failing (see P12 network) he should've been fired. The presidents can look in the mirror on this one.
I love the Knight's...They have done so much for Oregon, OSU, and Stanford. That said...The history of mankind dictates that Phil will not be around too much longer to keep bailing out Oregon & the Pac 12. This may be the one last thing he can do to help his beloved Oregon Ducks. Yet at this point I'm not so sure there is much he CAN DO. He can't buy Oregon's way into the big 10, he can't make the big 12 more attractive or powerful...I guess he could fund expansion of Autzen to the point that game attendance would be similar to big 10 sized crowds. But then adding 20,000 more seats and 10,000 more cars on the road would require more infrastructure in and around Eugene...who pays for that? Larry Scott screwed the Pac 12 over in so many ways it's ridiculous! He's been gone a full year and is still screwing it over. Thomas Hansen was a do nothing commissioner, but he did not go out of his way to hurt the conference. Larry Scott went out of his way to hurt the conference...he lavishly spent money on himself year after year, he spent millions on his pet Pac 12 TV studios & productions...yet when it came to actually doing what he promised to the schools who funded all that he was silent...he never came through...The revenue promised, the exposure promised was never delivered, which is why USC/UCLA are now gone, and the Pac 12 is no more. There is a ton of blame to place on Scott, but also the Schools themselves are complicit in this...They could have reigned in Scott, they heard the rumors, they could have fired him for cause, or made him sell the studios, or forced him to allow Fox or ESPN (as they asked to do for big money) to produce the Pac 12 channel...Instead Scott refused and yet the School's chancellors and presidents refused to act. This situation could have been avoided with responsible proactive people in charge...instead we have a disaster on our hands, and the potential for a catastrophe...The problem is...I'm not so sure the knights guidance, money, & influence can fix this one.
I was wondering if anybody else felt this way. Does Oregon become irrelevant and no longer attractive to Big 10 when he passes, maybe they are playing a waiting game.
I hope you are wrong. But I fear you are right. Well said though.
Sometimes the best defense is to go on the offensive. What the ACC, Pac-12, and Big 12 should consider is forming their own alliance and championship seasons. They completely spit from the Big 10 and SEC.
When I mean split, I mean split. No interconference games with Big 10 or SEC teams’ period in any sports. They create their own playoff system for football. Have their own March madness tournament for basketball. Then create the college world series for baseball and softball.
Basically, you’re creating the AFL-NFL rivalry. The new Alliance would clearly own basketball and they could demand significant revenue from their own March Madness. Then you can leverage this in terms of TV with CBS/Paramount, NBC/Peacock, Amazon, and Apple TV.
Clearly UCLA and USC will want to compete against Pac 12 schools in all the minor sports because of traveling costs. However, if you implement, a ban to include them in any games in any sports, it will drive their profit down.
Additionally, this model would de-value the Big 10 and SEC in terms of ESPN and & Fox. Rating will drop because you have significant rival competing against you. Since the ACC and ESPN already have a TV deal, give them the first shot? They are financially invested and do you think they want to see their SEC deal devalue?
BINGO!!!! We have a winner winner chicken dinner here.
100% this. And HQ that super conference in Vegas. Hold the playoff at Allegiant Stadium and featured games there every Saturday. Mega branding deal with Caesar’s/MGM. We’ve lost LA, but pac12 can still lock down the entertainment capital of the world.
USC-UCLA should be shunned by all remaining and future pac conference universities.
I can be cold at times. I 100% agree that pac 12 schools should never, ever play USC or UCLA
they're going to be a harsh welcome in Autzen come October when UCLA comes in, Chip or no Chip.
Understand the sentiment but what athletes are okay playing a season of second tier teams? What SEC teams want to play night games on the West Coast? Other than SC and UCLA what west coast teams can carry major TV? The biggest impediment to the PAC is their time zone. That has to be fixed first.
What the PAC 12 has to accomplish is find a way to devalue the Big 10 Product. A merger of the acc, Big 12 and PAC 12 could attain this and the create an alliance of the mid majors two freeze those other conferences by not play any games against them in any sport would financially impact the big 10 and SEC.
If they want war, play it or accept your fate.
War? The games will play at night where two thirds of the country won’t see it. Survival at best. Floats need to move now and accept the reality the left coast can’t compete with Midwest and east coast.
Without reading ALL the comments, it seems very simple. Without the LA market, the PAC 12 is doomed. Poaching a couple of Big12 members is not going to make us attractive enough, and even a merge would not make up the loss. I’m afraid that it’s every university for itself now. So sad.
One solution:
Make a West Coast Super Conference by joining with ALL of Mountain West.
I know people will say: but we will be weaker... but that is not true. Here is how it flips the narrative:
1. It stops the attrition. Big12 can;t poach us, and will need to do the same with a Group5 conference to stay alive. It gives a solution to ACC as well. Big10 and SEC can no longer poach any teams, and now are the smaller conferences
2. MW has been beating up PAC12 teams like crazy... PAC12 teams have been hanging with SEC and Big10 teams... which means that MW teams are really better than ESPN and those that vote top 25.. they have been subduing Group5 teams for sometime (just ask UCF and others).
3. We regain the SoCal audience
4. We send the message that Big10 and SEC are about have's/have nots... whereas PAC12 is about college athletes and the alumni, to sustain tradition... there is market for both
5. Focus on the travel expenses...and dare I say, excite the woke climate change crowd on how all of this traveling will increase global warming
Flip the narrative... don;t play the game that Big10 and SEC are playing, we will lose everytime... hit them where they are weak... and its easy to see what that is, just go to the comment section of USC and UCLA
There’s another Beaver aiming low and expecting Oregon to follow along with their low expectations.
If high standards is bowing to ESPN and Fox, then sorry, not interested in those standards.
Tell me again how an Oregon State vs Utah State game will help take down the SEC ? get real
That's a non starter...The mountain west has no TV market share. BYU just joined the Big 12. attaching yourself to an already struggling conference is like tying yourself to an anchor and then throwing it over the side. The Pac would be better off going with 10 members than merging with teams with no revenue and no market share. At least Houston of the big 12 has a decent sized TV market...and BYU has a decent sized TV market, and large following (mormons). NO ONE in the mtn. west can come close to them. REVENUE is the key...with revenue comes
exposure, with exposure comes better recruiting. With Better recruiting comes wins, and with wins comes recognition and even better recruiting, revenue, exposure and desirability. without revenue none of that happens unless it's an accident (Utah in 2002).
That's where Kliavkoff comes in. Only he can assess what the networks would pay for such a union. Unless he can garner big money, the concept is a non-starter.
Now we see what GK can do. Unless I missed it The Commish hasn't said boo since the LA schools dropped this turd in the pool. I reckon he and Lord Knight have been talking. I sure hope so.
I have communicated with him some. He’s working but he’s going to need a Hail Mary (PK).
There simply are no viable solutions for the PAC12 to continue to exist and stay relevant. I can't imagine what PK could do, or would even want to do. Merging with the Big 12 is the only viable option. Even if Oregon and Washington are part of that, it will be viewed as an FCS-like, lower tier conference by the super conferences and will be locked out of national relevance.
So many questions... so many scenarios. The NIL issue was the key rock that set in emotion in this avalanche of college football destruction. Would like to think Uncle Phil will step in...
Scott ran the conference into the ground for years with nary a peep from the ADs, presidents, and press. Only Canzano finally lowered the boom on him, although to be fair it was a few years later than it should have been.
Just not sure what the recommendation is here. Knight calling Kevin Warren will have no impact. If UW and Oregon remain in the PAC, there are no other schools out there to court except Notre Dame who would result in the necessary markets and prestige to get increased TV money. Any other schools like Fresno St, SDSU, etc and they’re getting less money than today, at a time when the SEC and B1G teams are about to get massive increases.
Btw, how about that Carol Folt…what a snake!
Larry killed the conference. Can be salvaged but it’s a big lift now.
John, we know Larry Scott didn’t do the conference any favors, but how does the PAC12 CEO group escape blame here? Wasn’t Scott just doing their bidding or they at least allowed it to continue far too long. Seems like too many in the CEO group were too happy with status quo feeling no need to play defense or offense until now.
100 they deserve blame. Trouble is… most of those who hired him and enabled him have moved on. It’s worth a revisit though.
It feels as if we are asking A LOT of Phil Knight: to save the Blazers from moving elsewhere, now to save the Pac-12 from extinction.
With that said, if anyone can, Uncle Phil (and I address him as such respectfully) can, if he is interested. And I can't imagine he wants his two favorite universities to fall by the wayside in this ever-changing landscape of college athletics. Let's hope he is up for this challenge.
Phil Knight is an interesting cat…but, before we bestow sainthood upon him, shouldn’t we be honest about how sincere or benevolent he actually is???…he’s made a fortune producing obscenely overpriced sneakers…products that have been manufactured on the backs child slave labor in Chinese sweatshops…he’s endorsed and promoted the likes of Colin Kapernick and LeBron throughout their careers…even while they were calling for violent protests against law enforcement… he’s the worst kept secret in college athletics when it comes to providing “incentives” for high school athletes to pick Oregon over other suitors while being recruited…I suppose lots of people will say Uncle Phil is no different than the rest of corporate America in selling out to China and the cultural headwinds…but it doesn’t make it right…and just because he passes out $$$$ to get what he wants, doesn’t make him a benevolent savior of anything…what ever decision he makes, you can rest assured that it will be based upon himself and what’s in his best interest…
how typical Mike G bring his leftist politics into a column about saving the PAc 1`2 conference...Hey mike...you didn't mention Adidas, or Reebok, or Puma, or any of the other athletic shoe brands that also use Chinese, or Korean, or Vietnamese, or Indian or Pakistani labor. You didn't mention that those countries allow those types of labor. You didn't mention how you cherry pick your targets, but refuse to condemn those countries themselves for allowing it. You didn't condemn La China for promoting china and it's policies...ONLY Phil Knight...could it be you're a "hater" who also happens to be aligned with OSU??? OH and also Phil knight did not endorse Kaepernick, and La China...Nike did. Phil owns the majority of Nike stock but is not involved with running Nike nor has been for a long time. Nice try.
Nike = Phil Knight = Colin Kapernick
You can attempt to avoid the reality, but Phil Knight made Colin Kapernick
Nothing happens that impacts the Nike Brand that isn’t approved by Uncle Phil…
Solutions:
Phil Knight enters as a formal partner and persuades two way better teams than SC and UCLA to join the Pac. I am thinking Baylor and Oklahoma State as the most preferred. Nike money helps negotiate a massive media deal with Apple TV or Prime. No need for ESecPN or B1GFox to concern themselves.
Let's use our ingenuity and smarts out here on the west coast to solve this problem = Nike + Apple (or Amazon)
First, compare media markets of Stillwater, OK & Waco, TX, with Los Angeles. Back to drawing board?
Best move for PAC if Oregon and Washington agree to long term GOR is to expand with B12 Remaining 8 (minus Bayllor and WV).. This enables B12 dissolution since 6 out of 8 can dissolve the conference and no exit fees are owed. Baylor is out due to it’s Baptist affiliation while TCU’s affiliation with Disciples of Christ is extremely loose. Pac16 cuts an all in deal with Apple or Amazon who sub licenses a GOTW to CBS or NBC. Another GOTW can be sub licensed to TNT or USA. This enables Apple or Amazon to carve a large niche in CFB and tell ESPN and Fox to eff off in the process. Start the negotiation at 85% of B10 payouts. Both Apple and Amazon can afford it.
not quite sure about your blatant, anti Church affiliation bias. Notre Dame is connected to the Catholic Church and has a powerful sports following. In fact, Notre Dame becomes a national brand because of its heritage. I don't believe secular institutions represent any moral 'high ground", do you?
Yes! IMO this is the best solution I have heard yet.
Top alumni base in Texas is not Longhorns or Aggies, It's Red Raiders of Texas Tech. Houston does not back Houston Cougars like you think so TT and either San Diego State or UNLV, both with ongoing facilities upgrades and Amazon Prime TV Contract with selling prime times to ESPN/ABC or NBC or CBS. Big10 $1 bill 2024 windfall divided by 14 is $71 mill, 16 is $62 mil. 10 Pac 10 schools would only need a $750m contract from Tech giants to buy their way into TV steaming college FB market of west coast, Texas and Mountain states. So lets hope Jeff Bezos is the one Talking to GK at PAC 10headquarters instead of Uncle Phil
Los Angeles isn't a football city. And from what I've seen, the Ducks are as popular there as USC and UCLA are. There just isn't a huge college football following in SoCal.
Oklahoma brings 40,000 fans to high school games. 90% of OK folks support football..one team or the other (sorry Tulsa). Highways are filled with supporters flying University banners year round. A Rabid fan base* does count for something. (*A person—usually male—who is obsessive about 'his' club or team and schedules his life activities around matches and games and supports his team in ways that others might find odd.)
The only thing that matters is the size of the TV market.
Hell, UCLA & USC are so far down the priority list for most in So Cal, that few even know the difference between the Big 10 & Pac 10, but it matters to the TV folks writing the checks.
IDK if I agree with this premise. While the markets are smaller the combined fervent of the fanbases far outweighs LA.
In other words , I agree with the fan base comment !
UCLA football does not have a fervent fan base. I’ve been to several of their games in the RB.
PAC merges with BIG12!
Adds SDSU, Boise, Fresno, San Jose, Air Force, SMU, UNLV, Reno, Colorado State and one more for a 32 team Super Conference with 4 eight team divisions, with 4 division champs in playoff for conference. You now dominate western half of country and have TV markets in Seattle, Portland, Bay Area, Fresno and San Diego. Plus Boise, Salt Lake, Denver, DFW, Houston…go big or go home
and how much TV $ does that get & $1.6 bil max, thats $50 mil per team, less than SEC and Big10 now get so totally useless
The goal is relevance for the playoffs…the playoff committee isn’t gonna leave out the western half of the country. The battle is to be the 3rd conference in the mix. My proposal gives more TV markets to a PAC/Big 12 merger than either the BIG10 or SEC. So it would be relevant. Unless your into giving up to a 2 conference system which will suck the life out of college football
That's kind of a super Mountain West conference. It's not at the same level as the B1G or SEC so it would be accepting that we are all now in a lesser (not Power 5 level) league.
Actually it locks up the western half of country and would lead playoff committee to include them or you’d cut off half the country…they’d be the 3rd conference
Big 10 now has 8 top 25 and 13 top 50 markets for comparison
8 of top 25 markets
21 of Top100 markets and 15 in Top 50
Phil Knight and ESPN probably won’t save the Pac10, Apple or Amazon have to with competitive payouts to keep Oregon and Washington. They are now Kliavkoff’s lifeboat.
Knight’s support — even if it’s rhetoric — is valuable.
Had PK stepped up when the ncaa was attempting to SMU the Trojans the PAC would still be viable. He didn’t and it’s not.