ChooChooCat wrote: ↑Mon Oct 24, 2022 11:36 am
AzCatFan2 wrote: ↑Mon Oct 24, 2022 11:29 am
The 4th window for Saturday night games still has value. UW at CAL was an entertaining game, and likely the most watched game that started during the 4th window, by far. It was on ESPN. I just don't see ESPN losing all this late Saturday content and being happy about it.
UW, Oregon, Stanford, and CAL aren't ever joining the BIG 12. If these 4, or any combo of these 4 go B1G, then the 4-corner schools go BIG 12, and along with BYU and possibly SDSU, ESPN is satisfied with BIG 12 4th window content. If the B1G stands pat in the present, and adds no more schools at the moment, hard to believe ESPN will give up all PAC First Tier content. ESPN may not want to pay more than $30 million, but if the PAC can make a 2nd and 3rd tier content with Amazon for an additional $15 million, that will be competitive with the BIG 12. And keep the PAC together for at least a few years.
One positive if we do a deal with Amazon, and allow them to take over PAC-12 Network, it might get the PAC-12 Network into sports bars across the country. The biggest negative with the PAC-12 Network not being on DirecTv is 99% of sports bars have DTV, and no PAC-12 Network. But with Amazon's Thursday Night NFL agreement, Amazon an DTV agreed to air the game on a special channel. No reason why that agreement can expand to include PAC-12 Network content.
There's no reason for us to do anything right now. And I'd prefer we stay in some sort of PAC versus going BIG 12. The reality is UW, Oregon, and Stanford all have more value than any team in the BIG 12 once OU and TX leave. If you are known by the company you keep, I'd rather stay in the PAC. But, if the B1G lands a death blow and add UW and OU, the BIG 12 would be very happy to add the 4-corner PAC schools.
Sorry, but bars are not going to switch their TV sets that are set to satellite/cable to Prime unless it's for the NFL. There's no benefit in regards to Amazon as far as bars go. The issue is people were able to seemlessly watch all Tier 1 or Tier 2 Pac-12 games whether on a FOX network or an ESPN network and now they won't be able to. Our Tier 3 games were the issue with Pac-12 Network. Now we're going to have probably Tier 2 and Tier 3 (god forbid Tier 1) on Amazon.
Yeah there's not a lot of positives to that.
Also that 4th window is every Pac-12's fans very bane of existence. I'm sure glad it gets to live on though as are the rest of the fans. Anything to keep this conference at the bottom of the heaping pile of garbage that it already is.
If your goal was to strengthen our brand for the next go around for realignment then this TV deal absolutely works against that more than anything ever prior.
I agree I can't see sports bars and restaurants switching from DTV, but they are still going to want to be able to show every NFL game. DTV struck a deal with Amazon that DTV Business Customers (mostly sports bars and restaurants) to be able to broadcast Thursday Night games. You can't watch Thursday night games at home with DTV, but every sports bar in the country with DTV, which again, is likely 99% of sports bars, show Thursday Night NFL games.
I would imagine DTV's Business Department is working on an agreements with Apple and Amazon, who are the frontrunners to win Sunday Ticket in 2023, so that sports bars and restaurants will continue to be able to broadcast all games on Sunday. The PAC-12 Network could be added sports values for DTV Business Customers for these same channels. Say Amazon wins Sunday Ticket, and signs a Tier 2 and 3 agreement for the PAC-12. To stream NFL games or PAC-12 Network games, you'll need to be a Prime customer. But a sports bar will still be able to show these games through their DTV contract.
I also agree that a Tier 1 rights agreement with a streaming service would be a joke. And while the 4th window is the bane of PAC fan's existence, the fact we're all located in the Mountain or Pacific time zones will not change regardless of what conference we're in. And the 4th window is what ESPN and Fox see the most value when it comes to west coast schools. Would it really change much if our 7:30 pm home game, local kickoff is a PAC game against WSU or a BIG12 game against Baylor?
Maybe Klivakoff is waiting to see who wins Sunday Ticket before we announce who the PAC will go with for its next contract? Neither Amazon nor Apple have a lot of sports production experience. The PAC-12 does. There's synergistic value if the PAC signs Tier 2 and 3 rights with whomever streaming service wins Sunday Ticket, and again, a possibility this gets PAC-12 Network games on DTV Business customer's televisions, which are sports bars and restaurants.