Taking less media rights $ would be a hard pill and seems like the Apple deal was lower at first, but higher in potentially 2 years (and it was Apple TV subscriptions, NOT Apple PAC subscriptions like the Messi model). So there was risk. I think it was almost there, but UO and UW jumped to safety. I really thought B1G would only offer IF the PAC was no longer viable (AZ jumping would have started the cascade). But instead, they started the cascade. All happening in less than Thu night to Fri morning. B1G stalls and this all turns out with PAC saved. Crazy.
The ASU president indicated it was more than the money though. They liked were streaming was going. They liked that digitization of the product was instantaneous. Could be paused, played, accessed immediately. Players could use it as they needed. So there were some structural things that were new (hence a little risky). But we’ll see how it goes. Maybe ESPN goes digital/streaming and cuts ties with cable companies and we get there. GK was going a little be revolutionary, but I suspect some of the leaders are more risk adverse, saw the opp to make solid, risk-free model in the current (or maybe even passing paradigm) and just stay alive until the next shake-up in 5 years and again in 10 years.
BTW, expenses were $111M and Team Travel was $6M as reference points. Football brought in $76M of the revenue, MBB $12M, Gym $1M; Lacrosse actually brought in $835k with WBB $504k and Baseball $520k, Vball $479k. The breakout of Team Travel expenses is also interesting.
Don’t disagree with you. That said, if we want to get to the root of things – fan support in football for the conference. Ducks and Dawgs just finished the job.
Of course, fwiw, I’m just a Utah and sports fan who don’t really care about college football. I like the sport, just not its current structure.
I think the only fans that like things currently either root for the the top teams in the SEC, B1G, or particular teams in the B12 and ACC.
Consensus seems to be that this is all bad for CFB, generally.
I have to tip my hat to defenders of the BCS that warned us to be careful what we wished for… then I remember that they were the same smug fans that benefitted from the shenanigans and flaws of that system, so it’s still mostly “FO” to them, with a tad more grudging respect than before
West Coast geography/demographics were factors that were too tough for the presidents, regents, and wunderkind to crack- at the end of the P5 era, it mostly came down to time-zones and ratings; the West just can’t compete with 2/3 of a country that won’t get invested in teams that play after primetime. I don’t give a ■■■■ about the SEC but its fans outnumbered the PAC more than 2-1.
The death of the Pac 12 will be required reading in MBA programs forever. As we all are learning, it is an astonishing case study of strategic planning, abysmal negotiation, and unforced errors.
I can’t help but think that the demand for $50 million came from the PAC-12 schools who have spent so irresponsibly that they’re in debt up to their eyeballs. And so the rest of the conference members who engaged in responsible financial managment pay dearly for that now.
So, just more confirmation of the CEO group and Presidents’ " hubris, bad leadership and hollow promises." At this point are any of us surprised by the inability of the PAC to get things done? It seems that the corporate culture was set long before Larry Scott showed up. That is based upon comments I’ve read from @ghostofOCGreg and other PAC-10 (at the time) programs on r/cfb. The PAC has seemingly always been slow to the table, to pick up new ideas, it has had to be dragged into the 21st century. For all the bad that LS did, he definitely had help. Perhaps @ghostofOCGreg can expand on this observation since he was around to see the expansion of the PAC from 10 to 12 programs, then the implosion.
What is the latest start time for conferences that play in the Eastern time zone? A 6pm local start and most of us attending the game could be home by perhaps 11. But these 8 PM (more like 8:20) games are rather inconvenient (along with not releasing the game time schedules until the week of the game in many cases). And of course when our games start after 10PM on the east coast, no wonder ratings are not high for those games.
Years ago, I read an article, titled, “Why Smart People Do Dumb Things.” It cited a number of colossal blunders, such as the Edsel and New Coke. An updated article could include Kodak’s collapse, Bud Light and now the Pac-12.
If, 14 months ago or even a month ago, you would have told me that the Pac would collapse so suddenly and spectacularly, I would have wondered what you were shooting/snorting/smoking. This will indeed provide tons of material for MBA classes. It’s all so stunning, even a week later.
Back to the article, it stated that such disasters are often the result of group think, where everyone is in a closed and self-reinforcing environment, with no one pointing out holes in the boat. That gave us the Bay of Pigs. Alternatively, it’s hubris, where those making such decisions believe that they are smarter than the rest of the world, so everyone else fails to see the brilliance of their plan (either that or the rules don’t apply to them). I’m sure that this will be dissected for a long time to come, so I’ll leave it to university professors and pundits to figure out which reason fits best or whether there’s a third cause.
In addition to MLB games and others where it’s primetime here, and I’m thinking “is anyone going to work or school tomorrow? It’s midnight back there!”
Playing the census math game, half of the Nation’s population is east of Wright County, Mo., which is just a little West of the Mississippi River. Using that proxy, and adjusting for time zones, it means almost 70 percent of the nation’s population resides in the East and Central Time Zones. The Mountain and Pacific Time Zones are roughly 30 percent. With that understanding, two things stand out.
First, for ANY TEAM (not named U$C) from out this way to land on the eyeballs map requires rolling a perfect season and winning the CCG to make it to the CFP. The odds slightly improve when we go to the 12 team playoff playing all out west.
Second, by imploding the PAC 12 and moving into a conference that is primarily in the Central Time Zone actually improves the odds of playing in the CFP. With more exposure in the Eastern and Central Time Zones during prime viewing hours, teams will have a better shot at making the 12 team CFP with high win totals and playing the the CCG. If the wins total is big enough, maybe sliding in without playing in the CCG. It means winning the OOC games against other P(?) schools and top end G5’s.
I get that greed and blind stupidity killed the PAC 12. FWIW that toxic concoction may have actually done us a favor for football. The other sports…absolutely not at all!
I don’t think the blame can be spread evenly over PAC-12 members. It’s my understanding from pretty well-connected people that Harlan and Randall fought hard to save the conference and were devastated when it fell apart and Utah had to move. I’ll bet Stanford, Cal and Arizona also tried to save it. Others may may have also.
We can be sure USC and UCLA didn’t do much to save the PAC-12…They didn’t try to save anything except their prospects for adding millions to their coffers.
