I say this because we are about to be reunited with our two former MWC foes TCU and BYU, who Utah consistently competed with in the mid to late 2000’s (also known as when I was an undergrad at the U btw). However, that being said, it’s not going to be the same beyond that, because Utah is about to get WAY MORE EXPOSURE in Texas and they’re going to be on TV networks that people actually watch (ESPN and Fox). Not to mention the little fact that the rest of the teams in the league are going to be way better than the rest of the Mountain West was back then. 3 of Utah’s conference mates in the Pac-12 are ALSO joining the Big 12, and the league itself is ingratiated in the Midwest. Utah is now in a league with Kansas. We could play Kansas and Arizona in basketball at the Huntsman Center IN THE SAME SEASON without either of them having to be non-conference games. The Big 16 is an excellent basketball conference, and hopefully it leads Utah to a revival in their program, as they would have to do to even be competitive.
All that being said, I am going to miss Utah’s Pac-12 days and the big games against the USC’s and Oregon’s of the world on a consistent basis. However, while the Pac-12 had the bigger name brand schools, the Big 12 is more competitive overall with more passionate fanbases. And our road games against non-Mountain/Arizona Time Zone schools are all likely going to be day games while most home games are likely going to be at night. At least the bigger ones will be. Can’t ask much better than that. The best part however is that Utah never has to waste another non-conference game spot on BYU ever again, meaning that they can now schedule the Florida’s, Michigan’s, and other big name teams every single year in non-conference play if they so desire w/out any setbacks. Being in the Big 12 is a billion times better than being stuck in the former Pac-12 w/little hope would have been. Yes, their Tier-3 games are streaming (Big 12 Now on ESPN+), but at least that is not 100% streaming like the Pac-12’s proposed Apple deal was going to be. The Big 12/16’s Tier-1 and Tier-2 games are ALL linear games (ABC, Fox, ESPN, and FS1). So, what they had during their time in the Pac-12 basically. But no Pac-12 Network games anymore (hooray).
You’re right @operaman86 , it will be a lot harder to ignore Utah when it’s playing games on a platform with the best access to eyeballs AND generally with kickoff times the whole country can actually watch. I am sure we will end up with some late kicks outside of the evening in the Eastern time zone, but we were living on playing football with those kickoffs in the east. Now maybe @Carolina_Cycling_Ute can watch and not have to do the 2:00am Sunday morning go to bed.
I had those go to bed times when our games started at 8:00. By the time you could leave the tailgate lot, go dump the RV, and unpack, it was about 2:00 in the morning before I could settle in. That said, I prefer 8:00 kickoffs to noon kickoffs.
It’d be nice to have games finishing earlier than 2am. I suppose we’ll have to wait and see. I do expect late games, but not 10pm eastern starts, maybe 8 or 9pm.
Linear TV is an anachronism. You may as well tell me the future is dial-up modems. Streaming is where it’s at. If it’s not being streamed most of us won’t see it. I guess old farts in their 50s and 60s need to have their clicker in their hand to watch ESPN.
Oh crap, I’m in my 60s, and I don’t have cable, except for internet access. I just don’t watch ESPN, because I can’t stream it. As I have done for the last 3 years, I just don’t watch Syracuse or Utah, because there is no streaming. Oh well, the ESPN dinosaur is dying out because the streaming asteroid hit it.
I heard US Robotics just created this ultimate compression algorithm, is making a comeback, providing free internet reaching 3 gbps over dial up. They’ve located Steve Case, AOL is coming back, too.
Also, flying monkeys playing Pink Floyd over boom boxes in the airspace Amazon was going to use for drone deliveries.
The P12 was right to work with Apple. It’s cash rich, innovative, customer focused. Apple is the clear leader in streaming. It could buy ESPN with the loose change in its pocket. The market cap for Disney is about $160 billion. Apple’s market cap is in the $3 trillion neighborhood.
Market cap and cash on hand are very different but Apple is truly flush with cash and needs it’s next big investment for growth (transportation? Education?)
All the true sports bars absolutely do. They increasingly have no other choice if they want to show the content that brings in varied fanbases. The world is going the way of streaming and they’re simply keeping up.
Sure there are still sports-themed “sports bars” who have linear-only subscriptions and just show whatever is on… different thing, and even those are becoming fewer and fewer.
If you happen to live in San Diego, there are a number of bars that cater to college football fans of schools throughout the US. Unfortunately, the Utes are not one of those.
Big Willies bar in Salt Lake advertises that they host watch parties for both Kansas State and Tennessee Vol fans. Not the schools I would suspect would fill up tables in SLC, but what do I know?