Conference Realignment

[Irish27]

https://www.wfaa.com/article/sports/col ... 97911ce1e5

[CatsbyAZ]

If Texas and OU do leave, OK State and TTech are the two schools the PAC should consider. Baylor and TCU are religious schools, and if the PAC wanted a religious school, we would have taken BYU years ago. And again, if the alignment is the old PAC-8 in the PAC-16 Coastal and Arizona, ASu, Colorado, Utah + TTech, Baylor, OK State and TCU in the PAC-16 Mountain, I don't think this passes. And if it does, it won't be very good for us. We'd be trading trips to LA for trips to Lubbock! Maybe if the PAC can add OK State and TTech, add them to the South, and find two schools to add to the north? Maybe think a little outside the box and add Boise St. and Kansas? Or maybe Kansas and K-State?

Why is it that if the SEC does something everybody else must respond in kind???

Oklahoma State and Texas Tech are NOT, NOT, NOT (!) schools the Pac 12 should consider. Stop overreacting.

[AzCatFan2]

If Texas and OU do leave, OK State and TTech are the two schools the PAC should consider. Baylor and TCU are religious schools, and if the PAC wanted a religious school, we would have taken BYU years ago. And again, if the alignment is the old PAC-8 in the PAC-16 Coastal and Arizona, ASu, Colorado, Utah + TTech, Baylor, OK State and TCU in the PAC-16 Mountain, I don't think this passes. And if it does, it won't be very good for us. We'd be trading trips to LA for trips to Lubbock! Maybe if the PAC can add OK State and TTech, add them to the South, and find two schools to add to the north? Maybe think a little outside the box and add Boise St. and Kansas? Or maybe Kansas and K-State?

Why is it that if the SEC does something everybody else must respond in kind???

Oklahoma State and Texas Tech are NOT, NOT, NOT (!) schools the Pac 12 should consider. Stop overreacting.

Evolve or die. If college football is heading to 16- team super conferences, we need to be proactive. OK State and Texas Tech are not Texas and OU, but are there better options should the PAC need to expand?

[Merkin]

OK State has 15 consecutive winning seasons. Last losing season was in 2005, Mike Gundy's first year.

Texas Tech had some very good seasons under the pirate, not so much since then.

But Texas Tech was in the Border Conference with Arizona, so has that going for it.

[ChooChooCat]

If Texas and OU do leave, OK State and TTech are the two schools the PAC should consider. Baylor and TCU are religious schools, and if the PAC wanted a religious school, we would have taken BYU years ago. And again, if the alignment is the old PAC-8 in the PAC-16 Coastal and Arizona, ASu, Colorado, Utah + TTech, Baylor, OK State and TCU in the PAC-16 Mountain, I don't think this passes. And if it does, it won't be very good for us. We'd be trading trips to LA for trips to Lubbock! Maybe if the PAC can add OK State and TTech, add them to the South, and find two schools to add to the north? Maybe think a little outside the box and add Boise St. and Kansas? Or maybe Kansas and K-State?

Why is it that if the SEC does something everybody else must respond in kind???

Oklahoma State and Texas Tech are NOT, NOT, NOT (!) schools the Pac 12 should consider. Stop overreacting.

Evolve or die. If college football is heading to 16- team super conferences, we need to be proactive. OK State and Texas Tech are not Texas and OU, but are there better options should the PAC need to expand?

I don't think college football is heading to 16 team super conferences just because the SEC is doing it. Literally the only reason the SEC is doing it is because Oklahoma and Texas want to join them and they're not going to say no to those two schools, because if they say no then they'll go to the B1G or the Pac-12 and make those conferences significantly richer. What it boils down to is do the other 8 teams bring more money to any of these other conferences? Maybe Kansas basketball would, but overall these realignment games are done because of football. At one point market size mattered in realignment, but with the business going away from TV Cable subscriptions and moving towards streaming that's a far less concern. If the other 8 Big XII teams brought enough money to the table then Texas and Oklahoma would just stay put, but that's obviously not the case.

From a competitive standpoint I would love to add Okie State and Texas Tech to the PAC, but the academics aren't there for either of those schools, and more importantly unless a TV network tells us that those two schools or any of the other leftover schools are worth our while to add monetarily then there's just no point to it. I think it's more likely ESPN will continue to fund the Big XII without Texas/OU and just tells them to add Houston/Cincinnati or some other combo of schools (or maybe more schools like UCF and Memphis and such), so that way they can continue to control the TV rights to those schools. Having a monopoly on college football is more important to ESPN than to let a conference that could possibly move away from ESPN (like the Pac 12) add some of these leftover schools.

[azgreg]

[azgreg]

OK, just hear me out here. There are 128 teams in division 1 football. Let's make it 64 in 1A and 64 in 1B. 8 conferences (4 in 1A and 4 in 1B) with 16 teams each. Each has their own championship. Conference final for qtrs then conference champs to the semi finals. Here's the kicker. Each 1A conference has a 1B partner and utilize a 2 team re-classification. Top two teams from 1B move up to 1A the following season and the 2 bottom teams from 1A move down the following season.

[azgreg]

[ASUHATER!]

the Texas legislature introduced a bill saying that any state schools would need legislative approval to change conferences, so that's probably the reason for that.

[ChooChooCat]

This guy was a big follow during the last round of conference expansion...he's full of shit.

[CatsbyAZ]

Why is it that if the SEC does something everybody else must respond in kind???

Oklahoma State and Texas Tech are NOT, NOT, NOT (!) schools the Pac 12 should consider. Stop overreacting.

Evolve or die. If college football is heading to 16- team super conferences, we need to be proactive. OK State and Texas Tech are not Texas and OU, but are there better options should the PAC need to expand?

Yes, evolve or die, but at some point face the reality. Texas and Oklahoma are asking to join the SEC. The Pac 12, in turn, would be begging Oklahoma State to join. If Oklahoma State is the best option the Pac 12 has, whoever thinks they're the answer to Texas and Oklahoma leaving is overdue to realize what the Pac 12 is at this point: a less competitive, marketable conference, that hardly anyone East of the Rockies cares to follow.

[Merkin]

Football is dying in the PAC anyway, at least outside of Oregon and USC. That's why I don't object to Baylor and Kansas in the PAC, make it a top notch basketball conference like the ACC.

The Stanford stadium went from 89,000 to 50,000. Record attendance was 94,000, and they hosted a Super Bowl.

I'm not even sure they will average 30,000 this season.




Cal had a capacity of 84,000, now down to 62,000. Even that is too big. Cal is last in the PAC at 69.57% over a 5 year period.




The all time attendance record at Wazzu is 40,306.

Meanwhile, Alabama drew 47,218 to their spring game this year. In 2011 they drew 92,000 for it but has been declining since. A sign for all of football.

[azgreg]

This guy was a big follow during the last round of conference expansion...he's full of shit.

He's not the only one reporting it.

[azgreg]

And as for ND they are contractually obligated to join the ACC if they decide join a conference prior to 2036.

[ChooChooCat]

This guy was a big follow during the last round of conference expansion...he's full of shit.

He's not the only one reporting it.

He's full of shit that Texas is agreeing to stay. He literally got the rest of his info from this Dodd article.

[azgreg]

Wilner chimes in with a conspiracy theory.

[azgreg]

it's official.

[azcat49]

I think only Kansas and Iowa St meet the academic credentials the presidents desire.

Would love to have a home and home vs KU in basketball and to also see them play Oregon and UCLA. While football is king maybe we approach this from a bball angle?

I think it is clear that the future is moving to mega sized conferences so adding some might be key. But adding the leftovers just to do it makes no sense. We need a commissioner that has some foresight and can sell the vision, whatever that might be, to some very key schools

[YoDeFoe]

ESPN

The Pac-12 continues to be royally fucked by being on the outside looking in on an ESPN media deal. ESPN will do everything in their power to promote their own content, of course, and as "the worldwide leader in sports" they set the tone of the discussion. The SEC = ESPN at this point.

Disney, which owns ESPN, is the second largest media conglomerate in the world. Adding Oklahoma and Texas is like adding Marvel Entertainment - it's a content acquisition to add eyeballs to their platforms.

With the NLI coming into effect, the size of your platform is going to be king. Want to get featured on Sportscenter? Go to an SEC school. That's just how its going to be.

[Chicat]

Talk swirling of the B1G trying to pull Oregon & USC to keep up with the $EC.

[YoDeFoe]

The Pac-12 better do something or risk losing the best of its members to another conference (namely: the B1G). Arizona would not be among those members. We'd get left in the dust, dropping into the Big XII trash heap.

My hope would be this: the Pac-12 partners with the B1G in the new media rights deal without actually combining. Something like non-conference scheduling partners. We'd then be looking at either Fox or Comcast for a distribution platform.

Fox is the B1G's current platform and is the longtime #2 in sports distribution. Comcast is the largest media conglomerate in the world and includes NBC - who recently renewed their deal to host Sunday Night Football, primetime's largest show for ten years running, for an additional 11 years - so there's a clear appetite for more football content from them. They were the old Pac-12 platform prior to Larry's network.

We need to be thinking about our ability to be on every bar TV in America on every Saturday in the fall. Partnering with the B1G and one of Fox/NBC is the way to get us there.

[YoDeFoe]

Talk swirling of the B1G trying to pull Oregon & USC to keep up with the $EC.

The B1G is for sure going to want Oregon, USC, UCLA, and Washington - they'd also want Stanford and Cal for their academics (which drives more dollars than athletics by 2x a year).

We'd better look at accommodating that desire without losing the conference as a whole.

[OSUCat]

Talk swirling of the B1G trying to pull Oregon & USC to keep up with the $EC.

Same thing about Michigan and OSU in “serious talks” with SEC.

Honestly, I think it’s everyone trying get clicks, except Oklahoma and Texas. B12 will die, but how things will look is completely a free-for-all

[84Cat]

We're going to end up in the WAC again

[dmjcat]

We're going to end up in the WAC again

Border Conference

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_Conference

[Merkin]

You laugh now, but that last UA sole conference football championship was in the Border Conference.

If the B1G does grab Oregon and USC, then the PAC should try and become an elite basketball conference by grabbing Kansas and Baylor.

[DrWildcat]

Talk swirling of the B1G trying to pull Oregon & USC to keep up with the $EC.

The B1G is for sure going to want Oregon, USC, UCLA, and Washington - they'd also want Stanford and Cal for their academics (which drives more dollars than athletics by 2x a year).

We'd better look at accommodating that desire without losing the conference as a whole.

Not really questioning you specifically, but I just see this narrative about academic money being important for conferences often and I just don't get how it is relevant to the sports side. Yes, certain conferences might collectively value academics more, but having a Stanford in the conference doesn't result in more money for anyone else on the academic side from what I can tell. Am I missing something?

[YoDeFoe]

Talk swirling of the B1G trying to pull Oregon & USC to keep up with the $EC.

The B1G is for sure going to want Oregon, USC, UCLA, and Washington - they'd also want Stanford and Cal for their academics (which drives more dollars than athletics by 2x a year).

We'd better look at accommodating that desire without losing the conference as a whole.

Not really questioning you specifically, but I just see this narrative about academic money being important for conferences often and I just don't get how it is relevant to the sports side. Yes, certain conferences might collectively value academics more, but having a Stanford in the conference doesn't result in more money for anyone else on the academic side from what I can tell. Am I missing something?

Part of it is just "the friends you keep" - by associating athletically with highly ranked academic schools, people think of your school being like those schools. Utah and Colorado gain cache by being associated with Stanford and UCLA. Ask a Dartmouth alum if they'd rather be an Ivy Leaguer or a member of the Big East.

The other part is actual cooperation in research and resources. The Big Ten in particular is a pioneer in sharing through the Big Ten Academic Alliance.

[AzCatFan2]

Football is king when it comes conference realignment. Football accounts for $.85 for ever $1.00 when it comes to tv money rights. If the PAC were to lose its top football teams and replace them with basketball schools like Kansas, we risk becoming the Big East.

As for Arizona, we need access to Southern California. It's our lifeblood in recruiting. It's also our largest alumni base outside the state. If we end up in a conference that doesn't have USC and/or UCLA, or a division with the S. Cal teams, might as well join whatever conference SDSU ends up in. That's just the reality at Arizona. If Conferences are going to a big 4, with 16 teams, Arizona has a seat at the table. But if only 32 of those schools can survive long-term, and create their own league, we'll be on the outside looking in.

Depending on what happens, it also may be time for Arizona to not be afraid to go somewhere without ASu. Back in the 70s, Arizona would have gone to the PAC without ASu, but it's doubtful the PAC would have taken just one of us. A package deal made much more sense. But one thing Arizona has going for it is it does extremely well maximizing the $.15 tv money that isn't football. Men's basketball takes up the lion's share of the leftovers, followed by women's basketball, baseball, and softball. If Arizona ends up in a leftover pile, forming a Big East type conference with basketball schools like Kansas might be the best alternative. And to leave ASu behind. Let them fend for themselves. Especially because the reality is, for tv purposes, both Arizona and ASu pretty much have equal shares of the Phoenix market.

Personally, I don't like the direction college football has been taking, and now completely embracing with the NIL. I get all the arguments the players are making, but the reality is, how many schools will truly be able to compete five years from now? Ten years? And is Arizona one of them? And is it truly college football if the "schools" remaining playing at the top level have players all making millions and not going to school at all?

[In re UofA]

Football is king when it comes conference realignment. Football accounts for $.85 for ever $1.00 when it comes to tv money rights. If the PAC were to lose its top football teams and replace them with basketball schools like Kansas, we risk becoming the Big East.

As for Arizona, we need access to Southern California. It's our lifeblood in recruiting. It's also our largest alumni base outside the state. If we end up in a conference that doesn't have USC and/or UCLA, or a division with the S. Cal teams, might as well join whatever conference SDSU ends up in. That's just the reality at Arizona. If Conferences are going to a big 4, with 16 teams, Arizona has a seat at the table. But if only 32 of those schools can survive long-term, and create their own league, we'll be on the outside looking in.

Depending on what happens, it also may be time for Arizona to not be afraid to go somewhere without ASu. Back in the 70s, Arizona would have gone to the PAC without ASu, but it's doubtful the PAC would have taken just one of us. A package deal made much more sense. But one thing Arizona has going for it is it does extremely well maximizing the $.15 tv money that isn't football. Men's basketball takes up the lion's share of the leftovers, followed by women's basketball, baseball, and softball. If Arizona ends up in a leftover pile, forming a Big East type conference with basketball schools like Kansas might be the best alternative. And to leave ASu behind. Let them fend for themselves. Especially because the reality is, for tv purposes, both Arizona and ASu pretty much have equal shares of the Phoenix market.

Personally, I don't like the direction college football has been taking, and now completely embracing with the NIL. I get all the arguments the players are making, but the reality is, how many schools will truly be able to compete five years from now? Ten years? And is Arizona one of them? And is it truly college football if the "schools" remaining playing at the top level have players all making millions and not going to school at all?

Not a fan of conferences losing all regional ties and rivalries. The pursuit of money is going to kill college athletics.

I believe the Pac12 schools are interested in more than just football and athletic revenue, at least when compared to the south. Just look at what they’ve put up with so far. That said, if the B1G takes So-Cal schools, lets try to hop on. Maybe our AAU status helps. Otherwise we’ll be left with SDSU, UNLV and other crap.

[CatsbyAZ]

I think only Kansas and Iowa St meet the academic credentials the presidents desire.

I think it is clear that the future is moving to mega sized conferences so adding some might be key. But adding the leftovers just to do it makes no sense. We need a commissioner that has some foresight and can sell the vision, whatever that might be, to some very key schools

Bringing in KU and ISU make EVEN LESS sense than begging Oklahoma State to join.

With the Big Ten similarly reacting with expansion in mind, why, why, why would Iowa State not look for a Big Ten invite over the Pac 12, even using a hapless Pac 12 invite as leverage into the Big Ten. Iowa State would easily fit in with several historical rivals (Iowa and Nebraska) along with new geographic rivals (Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin).

Since you're brining up academics, you can't keep expanding every ten years and not encounter the situation where the most practical candidates for invite will have lower than desired academics. You get expansion or academics - NOT BOTH. And yes, keep the Pac 12 west of the Rockies, even if Boise State and BYU get invites before Iowa State.

[Irish27]

I think the only two schools the Pac-12 might ask are Oklahoma State and Texas Tech. Kansas and Iowa State will probably be headed to the Big Ten.

[YoDeFoe]

I think the only two schools the Pac-12 might ask are Oklahoma State and Texas Tech. Kansas and Iowa State will probably be headed to the Big Ten.

This seems right - but those two would each be the worst academic school in the Pac-12, neither is an AAU school, and they bear little resemblance culturally with the existing member schools. As has been said, expansion will at this juncture mean losing academic prestige.

I think we need to look at this not in terms of adding schools but in the larger terms of adding eyeballs. ESPN/SEC are buying two major IPs in Oklahoma and Texas - not only is there no comparable move for the Pac-12 due to a lack of available programs to poach, but we don't even have a meaningful platform partner right now.

Best case scenario is that we use our historical football relationship with the B1G to negotiate a marquee media distribution platform based on football (and men's basketball) rights for both conferences.

Right now ESPN is making the SEC the only name in college football. The Big XII is dead. The Pac-12 and the B1G need to band together to create enough heft to push back on ESPN here.

[AzCatFan2]

EPSN is going to try and monopolize college football with the SEC. The Big-10 has a contract with Fox. If the PAC can work out a deal with the Big-10 and Fox, which would absorb the PAC-12 Network, we may be able to compete. Imagine a contract with the Big-10 and PAC to play two OOC games with each other in the future. Allow the games to played throughout the first two months of the season, and then Fox has some marquee regional games to play on Fox and FS1 just about every week until the last 1/4 of the season, when the biggest regional games like Michigan vs. TOSU draw enough eyes.

The issue is the Big-10 already has 14 teams, and the PAC only has 12, and as we've discussed, have limited expansion options. It's doubtful the PAC will ever accept religious schools, which eliminates BYU, TCU, and Baylor. Also doubtful we ever completely lower academic standards and take a Cal State school like SDSU or Fresno, nor any school in Nevada, New Mexico, or Idaho. Though to survive, we may have to evolve, and if taking both BYU and Boise State means survival for the PAC, and the alternative is no PAC, will the powers that be swallow their pride and move forward?

[Alieberman]

If the PAC wants to remain relevant... improve its standing it will work out a deal with the Big 10. Taking the scraps of the Big 12 does nothing to make us stronger

[ASUHATER!]

If the PAC wants to remain improve its standing it will work out a deal with the Big 10. Taking the scraps of the Big 12 does nothing to make us stronger

What would this entail in your mind? Making some kind of 24+ team super conference with the big 10?

[Irish27]

Merge with the Big Ten and have four divisions. Winner of each division plays in a semi-final football conference playoff games.

[UAEebs86]

Merge with the Big Ten and have four divisions. Winner of each division plays in a semi-final football conference playoff games.

Who plays in the Rose Bowl?

[UofAlum05]

If I am the Pac, I just walk into Amazon, Hulu, Sling, Netflix, etc. and say lets do a deal. Let's get creative. Lets use highly educated alums from the P12 to make it happen.

Cable is dead and there are so many other ways of viewing games now than just a deal with a network.

[Alieberman]

Merge with the Big Ten and have four divisions. Winner of each division plays in a semi-final football conference playoff games.

Who plays in the Rose Bowl?

Anyone but Arizona

[Alieberman]

If the PAC wants to remain improve its standing it will work out a deal with the Big 10. Taking the scraps of the Big 12 does nothing to make us stronger

What would this entail in your mind? Making some kind of 24+ team super conference with the big 10?

A giant Mega-Conference... 4 pods

[wyo-cat]

The BigPac.

[wyo-cat]

I think the only two schools the Pac-12 might ask are Oklahoma State and Texas Tech. Kansas and Iowa State will probably be headed to the Big Ten.

This seems right - but those two would each be the worst academic school in the Pac-12, neither is an AAU school, and they bear little resemblance culturally with the existing member schools. As has been said, expansion will at this juncture mean losing academic prestige.

I think we need to look at this not in terms of adding schools but in the larger terms of adding eyeballs. ESPN/SEC are buying two major IPs in Oklahoma and Texas - not only is there no comparable move for the Pac-12 due to a lack of available programs to poach, but we don't even have a meaningful platform partner right now.

Best case scenario is that we use our historical football relationship with the B1G to negotiate a marquee media distribution platform based on football (and men's basketball) rights for both conferences.

Right now ESPN is making the SEC the only name in college football. The Big XII is dead. The Pac-12 and the B1G need to band together to create enough heft to push back on ESPN here.

KU and ISU are AAU schools and have been for longer than the U of A and most of the PAC schools.

[YoDeFoe]

I think the only two schools the Pac-12 might ask are Oklahoma State and Texas Tech. Kansas and Iowa State will probably be headed to the Big Ten.

This seems right - but those two would each be the worst academic school in the Pac-12, neither is an AAU school, and they bear little resemblance culturally with the existing member schools. As has been said, expansion will at this juncture mean losing academic prestige.

I think we need to look at this not in terms of adding schools but in the larger terms of adding eyeballs. ESPN/SEC are buying two major IPs in Oklahoma and Texas - not only is there no comparable move for the Pac-12 due to a lack of available programs to poach, but we don't even have a meaningful platform partner right now.

Best case scenario is that we use our historical football relationship with the B1G to negotiate a marquee media distribution platform based on football (and men's basketball) rights for both conferences.

Right now ESPN is making the SEC the only name in college football. The Big XII is dead. The Pac-12 and the B1G need to band together to create enough heft to push back on ESPN here.

KU and ISU are AAU schools and have been for longer than the U of A and most of the PAC schools.

KU and ISU are looking at the B1G - them being AAU is the reason the B1G would accept them among the Big XII pot of schools. Geographically and culturally, the B1G would make sense for them.

I was referring to TTU and OSU as non-AAU (and in the remainder of that comment).

[azcat49]

Agree, we should use the Rose Bowl and Vegas to carve out a deal with the B1G. Vegas is a hidden gem of revenue opportunities.

Imaging a PAC/B1G preseason Basketball tourney and a OOC weekend of football games at raider stadium over Labor Day.

Maybe change the network to the Rose Bowl network and give a 60/40 share to the B1G? Not sure how to work that out but joining would creat opportunity

[YoDeFoe]

If I am the Pac, I just walk into Amazon, Hulu, Sling, Netflix, etc. and say lets do a deal. Let's get creative. Lets use highly educated alums from the P12 to make it happen.

Cable is dead and there are so many other ways of viewing games now than just a deal with a network.

We're talking about who features our tier 1 games which are currently split between Fox and ESPN. We need one of those two, or Comcast/NBC or CBS, as a distribution platform. Clearly we can't just have those games on the Pac-12 Network, streaming (poorly) via Sling or Hulu Live.

I think we all understand after this decade of DirecTV-less media rights and "Pac-12 after dark" schedules how important it is to be on the right side of this. Walk into any bar in the country and you'll know that "cable" isn't dead. DirecTV is king because of NFL Sunday Ticket, so we need to be on DirecTV. But on what channel?

ESPN is going to prioritize the SEC now that they hold the entirety of the SEC media rights and are adding Texas and OU - so that removes ESPN/ABC. That leaves Fox, CBS, and Comcast/NBC. CBS is smarting after losing out on SEC rights to ESPN, now holding only non-P5 media rights. NBC has the rights to Notre Dame only. And Fox airs both B1G and Pac-12 games currently (though they share it with ESPN).

One of those three is going to want to step up and compete for TV time with the SEC/ESPN juggernaut.

[UofAlum05]

Putting my old man hat on now.

This sucks....all of it. I've slowly been losing interest in college football for over 10 years now.

When I was a kid (old man hat time) my father, mother, aunts, uncles, etc. all went to ECU. We would go to every game together every weekend. They were a smaller football program but every week we felt like we had a chance. Through the 90s I watched them beat Miami, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, South Carolina, and most of the ACC. It was a blast and brought our family so close. It helped us through an incredible tragedy when the went 11-1 and finished 9th ranked season when Jeff Blake was the QB. To this day I have the program from the Peach Bowl hanging in my office with Jeff Blake's signature. When my Uncle (federal judge) passed away a few years ago the entire memorial was Purple & Gold. I honestly get tears in my eyes thinking about the bond I had with my family tailgating and watching those games. We didn't care about Power 5's, CFPs, TV Markets, etc. We just went to sold out stadiums filled with Purple and went absolutely nuts every time they scored.

Now that just seems to be all gone. We keep arguing about conference expansion but let's be real. College football is only about 8, maybe 10, programs. Its not about the tradition, the family bond, and just wanting to beat your rivals. All I ever hear about is Alabama & Clemson. I don't give a shit about Alabama & Clemson. I just want to enjoy watching Arizona and ECU beat the team they are playing on any given Saturday.

Arizona is very fortunate to be in a Power 5 conference but I even fear for its future as this movement continues. Luckily we have a brand in basketball that might just save us. But schools like ECU are just DOA in this new world. The entire eastern half of North Carolina lives and breathes Pirate football. It employs thousands and injects millions into the local economy that is otherwise Tobacco and Pig Farms. There is no way they can survive this new movement and it just makes me want to vomit.

[UofAlum05]

If I am the Pac, I just walk into Amazon, Hulu, Sling, Netflix, etc. and say lets do a deal. Let's get creative. Lets use highly educated alums from the P12 to make it happen.

Cable is dead and there are so many other ways of viewing games now than just a deal with a network.

We're talking about who features our tier 1 games which are currently split between Fox and ESPN. We need one of those two, or Comcast/NBC or CBS, as a distribution platform. Clearly we can't just have those games on the Pac-12 Network, streaming (poorly) via Sling or Hulu Live.

I think we all understand after this decade of DirecTV-less media rights and "Pac-12 after dark" schedules how important it is to be on the right side of this. Walk into any bar in the country and you'll know that "cable" isn't dead. DirecTV is king because of NFL Sunday Ticket, so we need to be on DirecTV. But on what channel?

ESPN is going to prioritize the SEC now that they hold the entirety of the SEC media rights and are adding Texas and OU - so that removes ESPN/ABC. That leaves Fox, CBS, and Comcast/NBC. CBS is smarting after losing out on SEC rights to ESPN, now holding only non-P5 media rights. NBC has the rights to Notre Dame only. And Fox airs both B1G and Pac-12 games currently (though they share it with ESPN).

One of those three is going to want to step up and compete for TV time with the SEC/ESPN juggernaut.

I've got a buddy who works for the NFL Network. He told me the word is that Amazon is getting that Sunday Ticket deal next year away from Direct TV.

[In re UofA]

We have a terrible distribution deal now, but we hold all ownership interest in our content whereas the B1G and SEC have Fox and ESPN as major interest holders. While that has limited us to date, the next deal may involve bidding from YouTube/Netflix/Paramount/Apple/Amazon or any other new streaming media service. It’s no longer limited to ESPN/Fox. Millennials do not care about ESPN exposure like us old people. High school kids get their news from so many different mediums. The television landscape will look much different in the coming years, no need to freak out about revenue disparity—unless the next deal is equally bad.

[YoDeFoe]

If I am the Pac, I just walk into Amazon, Hulu, Sling, Netflix, etc. and say lets do a deal. Let's get creative. Lets use highly educated alums from the P12 to make it happen.

Cable is dead and there are so many other ways of viewing games now than just a deal with a network.

We're talking about who features our tier 1 games which are currently split between Fox and ESPN. We need one of those two, or Comcast/NBC or CBS, as a distribution platform. Clearly we can't just have those games on the Pac-12 Network, streaming (poorly) via Sling or Hulu Live.

I think we all understand after this decade of DirecTV-less media rights and "Pac-12 after dark" schedules how important it is to be on the right side of this. Walk into any bar in the country and you'll know that "cable" isn't dead. DirecTV is king because of NFL Sunday Ticket, so we need to be on DirecTV. But on what channel?

ESPN is going to prioritize the SEC now that they hold the entirety of the SEC media rights and are adding Texas and OU - so that removes ESPN/ABC. That leaves Fox, CBS, and Comcast/NBC. CBS is smarting after losing out on SEC rights to ESPN, now holding only non-P5 media rights. NBC has the rights to Notre Dame only. And Fox airs both B1G and Pac-12 games currently (though they share it with ESPN).

One of those three is going to want to step up and compete for TV time with the SEC/ESPN juggernaut.

I've got a buddy who works for the NFL Network. He told me the word is that Amazon is getting that Sunday Ticket deal next year away from Direct TV.

I find this incredibly unlikely. How is Amazon going to get Sunday Ticket on to televisions in sports bars across the country? They have to partner with local TV stations to broadcast Thursday Night Football for free over the air.