This was a good read (new Wilner newsletter) on Dr. Phil's efforts to improve what's been going on with the Pac-12 to position the conference for the media negotiations in 4 years.
The Path to the Jackpot
When Colorado chancellor Phil DiStefano talks, the Hotline listens. We listen and we parse and we ponder what it all means.
DiStefano is the boss of the bosses, the head of the Pac-12’s CEO board — the group of presidents and chancellors that run the conference.
DiStefano’s tenure began last summer and has been marked by noticeable upturns in transparency (with conference business) and collaboration (between the conference office and the campuses). He has been visible and accountable and remarkably forthcoming, especially compared to his predecessors.
The latest example came last week, in the form of an interview with the Denver Post’s Sean Keeler.
The full Q&A is here and well worth your time.
Three highlights:
1. DiStefano praised commissioner Larry Scott’s willingness to adjust his management style and said there is no rush to make a determination on Scott’s contract extension. (The existing deal expires in 2022.)
2. The presidents and chancellors are focused on the search for a strategic partner and positioning the Pac-12 to cash in with the next media rights cycle (beginning in 2024-25).
3. The campuses share the burden with the conference when it comes to finding new sources of revenue.
“Obviously, if we’re winning," DiStefano said, "we’re going to get more people in the stadium — that’s going to produce more revenue.”
As the Hotline has noted in the past, No. 3 could have a significant impact on No. 2:
The Pac-12 desperately needs a strong football product when the conference enters negotiations with potential media partners in the winter or early spring of 2023.
It needs teams in the playoff and teams in the top 10 and teams drawing eyeballs and making headlines across the country in order to maximize the value of its most lucrative brand.
(Football content accounts for roughly 80 cents of every TV dollar in rights negotiations, with men’s basketball worth 20 cents. And it could be closer to a 90-10 split in the Pac-12.)
Let’s recall the situation leading up to the $3 billion deal with ESPN and Fox, which was signed in the spring of 2011:
• USC was just a few years removed from its dynasty and still a major attraction nationwide.
• Oregon was revolutionizing college football under Chip Kelly and fresh off a season in which the Ducks played for the national championship.
• Stanford was the darling of the sport after its spectacular rise to the Orange Bowl with Jim Harbaugh and Andrew Luck.
• The Ducks and Cardinal would finish the 2010 season ranked in the top five, with Kelly and Luck and Oregon tailback LaMichael James and USC quarterback Matt Barkley all coming back for more the following season.
The conference was loaded with big names and good stories and elite teams at just the right time, and the networks were willing to pay for the product.
(It was good timing in another regard: Comcast, which hadn't been a major player for college sports rights, jumped in with a bid for the Pac-12 and drove up the price for ESPN and Fox.)
The pairing of success on the field and at the negotiating table in 2010-11 would seem to indicate the next few years are vital for the long term:
The conference needs a thriving football brand — playoff teams and top-10 rankings and Heisman finalists — leading up to the early-2023 negotiating window.
Success at that level requires proper execution by the campuses and the conference office. It also requires time, but there isn’t as much as you might think: The Pac-12 has four seasons to position itself for the jackpot. — Jon Wilner.
The Path to the Jackpot
When Colorado chancellor Phil DiStefano talks, the Hotline listens. We listen and we parse and we ponder what it all means.
DiStefano is the boss of the bosses, the head of the Pac-12’s CEO board — the group of presidents and chancellors that run the conference.
DiStefano’s tenure began last summer and has been marked by noticeable upturns in transparency (with conference business) and collaboration (between the conference office and the campuses). He has been visible and accountable and remarkably forthcoming, especially compared to his predecessors.
The latest example came last week, in the form of an interview with the Denver Post’s Sean Keeler.
The full Q&A is here and well worth your time.
Three highlights:
1. DiStefano praised commissioner Larry Scott’s willingness to adjust his management style and said there is no rush to make a determination on Scott’s contract extension. (The existing deal expires in 2022.)
2. The presidents and chancellors are focused on the search for a strategic partner and positioning the Pac-12 to cash in with the next media rights cycle (beginning in 2024-25).
3. The campuses share the burden with the conference when it comes to finding new sources of revenue.
“Obviously, if we’re winning," DiStefano said, "we’re going to get more people in the stadium — that’s going to produce more revenue.”
As the Hotline has noted in the past, No. 3 could have a significant impact on No. 2:
The Pac-12 desperately needs a strong football product when the conference enters negotiations with potential media partners in the winter or early spring of 2023.
It needs teams in the playoff and teams in the top 10 and teams drawing eyeballs and making headlines across the country in order to maximize the value of its most lucrative brand.
(Football content accounts for roughly 80 cents of every TV dollar in rights negotiations, with men’s basketball worth 20 cents. And it could be closer to a 90-10 split in the Pac-12.)
Let’s recall the situation leading up to the $3 billion deal with ESPN and Fox, which was signed in the spring of 2011:
• USC was just a few years removed from its dynasty and still a major attraction nationwide.
• Oregon was revolutionizing college football under Chip Kelly and fresh off a season in which the Ducks played for the national championship.
• Stanford was the darling of the sport after its spectacular rise to the Orange Bowl with Jim Harbaugh and Andrew Luck.
• The Ducks and Cardinal would finish the 2010 season ranked in the top five, with Kelly and Luck and Oregon tailback LaMichael James and USC quarterback Matt Barkley all coming back for more the following season.
The conference was loaded with big names and good stories and elite teams at just the right time, and the networks were willing to pay for the product.
(It was good timing in another regard: Comcast, which hadn't been a major player for college sports rights, jumped in with a bid for the Pac-12 and drove up the price for ESPN and Fox.)
The pairing of success on the field and at the negotiating table in 2010-11 would seem to indicate the next few years are vital for the long term:
The conference needs a thriving football brand — playoff teams and top-10 rankings and Heisman finalists — leading up to the early-2023 negotiating window.
Success at that level requires proper execution by the campuses and the conference office. It also requires time, but there isn’t as much as you might think: The Pac-12 has four seasons to position itself for the jackpot. — Jon Wilner.
