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CU has rejoined the Big 12 and broken college football - talking out asses continues

I guess I hooked a couple!

Waynes World Fish GIF by Hollywood Suite
 
Do we want eyeballs even if it means less $$? I thought this was a $$ arms race. If someone is willing to overpay the conference and ultimately can’t deliver the eyeballs, is that better than begging for scraps from Fox/ESPN?
 
Do we want eyeballs even if it means less $$? I thought this was a $$ arms race. If someone is willing to overpay the conference and ultimately can’t deliver the eyeballs, is that better than begging for scraps from Fox/ESPN?
What is your definition overpaying?
 


As for the Big12 TV deal.



Reports indicate that the deal will also include:

  • A grant of rights (per Ourand and Smith), which locks in the membership through 2030-2031 by stipulating that any school that leaves before the deal’s expiration forfeits its media payouts for the length of the contract. The members would have to agree to this once the contract goes before them.

I was under the impression there was a 99 year GOR but this states differently. If it ends in 2030-2031 I'd rather have CU in the BIG12
for the next 7 years.

Big12 will most likely get more eyeballs with the ESPN(ABC) & FOX/FS1 networks than what most are thinking with whatever the PAC signs up for.
I suppose some lower tier games (Central FL vs Iowa State) could be ESPN+ so there will be some streaming but probably not a huge percentage.

Will GK pull a rabbit out of his ass and surprise us ?
 
What is your definition overpaying?
I just meant relative to reach/eyeballs. Is it better to take $25MM per school to be on fewer tvs or $20MM from ESPN to have more people watching? Totally hypothetically, I have no clue what will happen. It just seems like ITB has shifted from $$ to eyeballs.
 


As for the Big12 TV deal.



Reports indicate that the deal will also include:

  • A grant of rights (per Ourand and Smith), which locks in the membership through 2030-2031 by stipulating that any school that leaves before the deal’s expiration forfeits its media payouts for the length of the contract. The members would have to agree to this once the contract goes before them.

I was under the impression there was a 99 year GOR but this states differently. If it ends in 2030-2031 I'd rather have CU in the BIG12
for the next 7 years.

Big12 will most likely get more eyeballs with the ESPN(ABC) & FOX/FS1 networks than what most are thinking with whatever the PAC signs up for.
I suppose some lower tier games (Central FL vs Iowa State) could be ESPN+ so there will be some streaming but probably not a huge percentage.

Will GK pull a rabbit out of his ass and surprise us ?
The Big 12 media grant of rights ends for the 2030-31 athletics season, but the 99 year agreement is separate.

The 99-year agreement: In 2012, the Big 12 schools entered into a 99-year agreement to remain together, a deal that comes with an exit fee of two years’ worth of gross revenue.

You can read it yourself in the bylaws.


For any new member joining the Big 12, this means that under current estimates, the buyout to leave before 2111 would be enormous. For Texas and Oklahoma it was $50 million each. The expectation is that figure would rise to $100 million for current or prospective new members. This is not a grant of media rights. This is an agreement to stick together in the Big 12. It’s a blood oath.

If CU were to join, it’s pretty much permanent. This is why the Big 12 is actively trying to kill the PAC 12 because they want to force the four corner schools, which are better than anything they’ve got, into the league and into the 99-year agreement. Because none of them can get out. They need to make it better. It’s all very transparent to me.
 
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The Big 12 media grant of rights ends for the 2030-31 athletics season, but the 99 year agreement is separate.

The 99-year agreement: In 2012, the Big 12 schools entered into a 99-year agreement to remain together, a deal that comes with an exit fee of two years’ worth of gross revenue.

You can read it yourself in the bylaws.


For any new member joining the Big 12, this means that under current estimates, the buyout to leave before 2111 would be enormous. For Texas and Oklahoma it was $50 million each. The expectation is that figure would rise to $100 million for current or prospective new members. This is not a grant of media rights. This is an agreement to stick together in the Big 12. It’s a blood oath.

If CU were to join, it’s pretty much permanent. This is why the Big 12 is actively trying to kill the PAC 12 because they want to force the four corner schools, which are better than anything they’ve got, into the league and into the 99-year agreement. Because none of them can get out. They need to make it better. It’s all very transparent to me.
Sounds like “The Hotel California.”
 
What if?

Instead of groveling to the Networks or disappearing on a streaming only service, the Pac-12 doubled down on the investment they have already made with the Pac-12 Network.

1. Expand the coverage and content to pickup other sports content outside of the Pac-12 (Regional College Games, Minor Leagues etc)

2. To ensure distribution, provide the network access to cable and satellite providers and streaming services at free or dramatically reduced rates. (Open Source if you will)

3. Expand the content offerings to include interesting or entertaining shows produced by the Pac-12 member schools. (Not necessarily sports)

4. Position the network as a nonprofit whose sole purpose is to return funds to the Universities of the Pac-12.

I ask “what if”because I don’t know enough about the business model of a network to know if this idea is possible.

However, I do know that if the networks are paying out 50 Mil per year per team to buy an audience so that they can sell advertising, they must believe that they will make more than 50 Mil and be profitable.

I believe that, a potential top 20 matchup between Washington and Colorado, on such a network, could draw as many eyeballs as a typical Iowa vs Purdue matchup given enough distribution.

I know that I am talking out my ass here but it looks like the rest of the options are all so bad, that it is time to think outside of the box.
 
What if?

Instead of groveling to the Networks or disappearing on a streaming only service, the Pac-12 doubled down on the investment they have already made with the Pac-12 Network.

1. Expand the coverage and content to pickup other sports content outside of the Pac-12 (Regional College Games, Minor Leagues etc)

2. To ensure distribution, provide the network access to cable and satellite providers and streaming services at free or dramatically reduced rates. (Open Source if you will)

3. Expand the content offerings to include interesting or entertaining shows produced by the Pac-12 member schools. (Not necessarily sports)

4. Position the network as a nonprofit whose sole purpose is to return funds to the Universities of the Pac-12.

I ask “what if”because I don’t know enough about the business model of a network to know if this idea is possible.

However, I do know that if the networks are paying out 50 Mil per year per team to buy an audience so that they can sell advertising, they must believe that they will make more than 50 Mil and be profitable.

I believe that, a potential top 20 matchup between Washington and Colorado, on such a network, could draw as many eyeballs as a typical Iowa vs Purdue matchup given enough distribution.

I know that I am talking out my ass here but it looks like the rest of the options are all so bad, that it is time to think outside of the box.
Still have the problem of "nobody's buying what we're selling". PAC gets further and further behind the other conferences.

The playoffs and competition on a national basis are so important today, fans, schools, players, recruits, etc .. aren't satisfied with being Pac champions if their team isn't competitive against the SEC and B1G schools as well.
 
Still have the problem of "nobody's buying what we're selling". PAC gets further and further behind the other conferences.

The playoffs and competition on a national basis are so important today, fans, schools, players, recruits, etc .. aren't satisfied with being Pac champions if their team isn't competitive against the SEC and B1G schools as well.
If the network is run effectively, it could potentially bring in as much or more than a network deal (possibly?)

Are you saying that no one cares about Pac-12 football?
 
Still have the problem of "nobody's buying what we're selling". PAC gets further and further behind the other conferences.

The playoffs and competition on a national basis are so important today, fans, schools, players, recruits, etc .. aren't satisfied with being Pac champions if their team isn't competitive against the SEC and B1G schools as well.

I have been saying for years that Pac-12 football is terrible, but the quality of football in 2022 was as good as it had been since we joined. IMHO

If that trend continues, I think we will draw a bigger audience.
 
If the network is run effectively, it could potentially bring in as much or more than a network deal (possibly?)

Are you saying that no one cares about Pac-12 football?
I wasn't saying that, but compared to fans of comparably sized schools east of us (excluding the NE US), yeah. Colorado and West coast sports fans primarily focus on professional sports. Maybe NIL changes that.

I like to pick on USC, but they're supposedly the biggest college sports brand in the western US. Last year USC was in 1st place, was in playoff contention the whole year, and got out drawn by both LA NFL teams.

I just don't see a buyer for western US college sports media rights that puts us anywhere near the same financial level as SEC and B1G.
 
I wasn't saying that, but compared to fans of comparably sized schools east of us (excluding the NE US), yeah. Colorado and West coast sports fans primarily focus on professional sports. Maybe NIL changes that.

I like to pick on USC, but they're supposedly the biggest college sports brand in the western US. Last year USC was in 1st place, was in playoff contention the whole year, and got out drawn by both LA NFL teams.

I just don't see a buyer for western US college sports media rights that puts us anywhere near the same financial level as SEC and B1G.
I think you are right (dammit). At the end of the day, that is a hard reality to overcome.
 
I’ve been hoping to move to the Big 12 since F****** UCLA AND F****** USC left.

Big 12 schools seem to care about football
I'd love to read an insider's account of the decision making process that led CU to leave the XII. In hindsight, it seems like a crazy decision, but I'm sure it didn't look that way at the time.
 
I'd love to read an insider's account of the decision making process that led CU to leave the XII. In hindsight, it seems like a crazy decision, but I'm sure it didn't look that way at the time.
Lots of aspects I’m sure, but I think 2 of the most prominent were that a large group of alumni live in the Pac-12 footprint (California specifically) so fund raising was expected to be enhanced. And also, Texas was attempting to run the Big12, with very little regard to the other schools.
 
I'd love to read an insider's account of the decision making process that led CU to leave the XII. In hindsight, it seems like a crazy decision, but I'm sure it didn't look that way at the time.
Interestingly the move to the Pac coincided with a shift in the attitude, politics, and perception of Colorado from Midwest conservative to more coastal progressive.

I think almost everyone supported the move as a better cultural fit. I don’t remember any pushback on the idea.
 
Almost like CU should consider membership in a conference where fans do care about college sports.
Ummm....yeah
I want to be back in the Big12 because those fans actually care about football and are more fun to interact with than the snobby wine tasters from California.

I've come to the conclusion that CU isn't Big10 or SEC bound anytime soon. So many more brands headed their before the Buffs.
 
I'd love to read an insider's account of the decision making process that led CU to leave the XII. In hindsight, it seems like a crazy decision, but I'm sure it didn't look that way at the time.

It was a move decades in the making.
 
I'd love to read an insider's account of the decision making process that led CU to leave the XII. In hindsight, it seems like a crazy decision, but I'm sure it didn't look that way at the time.

Several articles from over two years ago.
 
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