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Sir Larry Scott.. (P12 considering buying out Larry Scott)
- Thread starter Manti's woman
- Start date
I totally understand why they bought what they were sold. It was hard to make them want to expand, to add a conference championship game, to not play each other every year, etc. It was hard to get them to want to invest in creating a sports network for the conference.
The majority weight of that board sees themselves as the Western Ivy with a few lesser members they're trying to pull up to a respectable level.
They were told they could get all the money and all the things that would make the donors happy with football without having to look like it was about the money. Instead, they'd be able to look in the mirror and tell themselves that this was about connecting better with prospective students from Asia and about being able to give a marketing platform for women's sports and Olympic sports. A platform for advertising the research accomplishments of the conference and building student opportunities in media. Maintaining a 9-game conference schedule in football with the CA teams playing each other each year to mitigate the impact of expansion.
Scott went over the top selling them that vision and then went over the top structuring things in a way that was tilted to that vision.
On a positive note, it seems that the presidents are wising up and listening to their athletic directors and donors. They see and hear about the revenue disparity, the distribution disparity and the performance disparity. They seem more open than ever to changing direction and accepting that it has to be about promoting football and, to a lesser extent, men's basketball.
Also, there has been some turnover in the president ranks since Scott was hired and those deals were done.
I actually think they are reaching the point where they are somewhat desperate. I think everything is actually on the table - even expansion with a willingness to at least listen to things they wouldn't entertain before (maybe even a BYU with its brand and the very marketable rivalry with Utah).
It's going to be interesting because I can't imagine they will stand still.
Much more about exposure than revenue. All those sports bars across the nation and even in the footprint that don't show PACN games. All of those sportswriters across the nation who subscribe to DirecTV for their jobs and aren't going to switch carriers to Dish so they can see the Pac-12.
DirecTV will always be King as long as they continue to exclusively offer the NFL's Sunday Ticket.
i think this is exactly why this 4 part series got written, someone is making a move to remove larry scott as p12 commish
thats certainly true
That's the death blow. AT&T was the key cable partner. When they bought DTV and it didn't result in a deal, the writing was on the wall. When the Pac-12 couldn't get an AT&T deal worked out for stadium wi-fi, it was another clear message that things were heading down the toilet.
That would be the death of the network.
I think we are reaching that point where the Pac-12 decision makers are going to need to sell half the network to Disney or FOX.
Hell, sell it to Amazon.
Death spiral
Apparently as long as he lives close to a general aviation airport so the conference can pay for his private jet travel, he's OK.
Holy ****, does that dude like spending the conference's money.
The conference presidents have been asleep at the wheel for too long. Do something.
No ****. And on what basis did they approve his compensation package? He's orders of magnitude above his peers. And he's not outperforming them.
This!....
It still might have been, but his execution sucked on all levels.
I don't think that owning the network was ever the problem.
Having overblown salaries and operational expenses was a problem. Having the model of 6 regional networks on top of the national network that partners were supposed to carry was a problem. Not understanding carriage values and negotiating priorities for the media deals was a problem. Spending so much on broadcasting non-revenue sports while not bothering to cover things like football signing day was a problem. Deciding to host your marquee season event - the championship football game - early Friday evening in San Francisco was a problem. Not having a main app for network broadcast content and a secondary app for most Olympic and other content was a problem.
There's been about nothing that was managed correctly.
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This.
As I posted and am trying to get at, the idea of owning all of your content was just fine. Financing was cheap at the time and the future of broadcasting is uncertain. It may be the perfect move. But it only works if you have operating efficiencies. Your advantage is on the margins when your footprint and its passion for college sports is lower. You get 100% of revenue instead of 51% of revenue by owning it all. But you have to absorb all the operational costs and get the distribution deals yourself without the leverage of your partner and its other properties helping in negotiations. The model works if you more than make up for the lower top line by keeping your operating costs below half of your revenue to more than offset. Otherwise, it's not worth the hassle and the risk.
Larry Scott has not been able to lead his vision because he is not an operational efficiency guy. That's what this job requires. Instead, we've got the type of guy who thinks successful management of the Pac-12 is getting some folks to fly in from Alibaba and play a round at Pebble Beach with him.
Will Mack Brown release him from his pool cabana boy contract, that is the question.
Deleted member 807
Guest
DiStephano isn’t only CU’s rep on Pac-12 CEO board. He’s also the chair. That tells you everything you need to know about how serious the P12 is about not competing with the B1G and SEC in an arms race.
Phil is a notorious foot dragger with a history of avoiding NCAA related arms races. Reference 2001 - 2014 as exhibit A.
A couple months ago Phil shared his belief that the conference should consider all options for leveraging its media content to create maximum value for the schools, even if it means selling an equity stake in the Pac-12 Networks. I read that to mean that some pricy consultants should be called in to submit a report in advance of the 2024 network negotiations.
Also Wilner values DiStephano’s opinions due to his relationship with Rick George. I read that to mean Rick George is a potential candidate to replace Larry Scott.
Given DiStephano’s role as Pres Benson’s lap-dog and his extremely long tenure at CU, it seems unlikely that Uncle Phil would stick around long after Benson finally calls it quits. Benson leaves, and Phil isn’t far behind.
We just can’t expect Phil to do much at this point, other than to pass the torch to some other old guy who also may similarly lack any bias for action for the next five years.
Best case: The CU’s regents hire a football friendly successor to Benson who then hires a kick ass football friendly chancellor in Boulder that gets along swimmingly with Rick George. The new guy breaths a breath of fresh air on the P12 CEO board.
Worse case: DiStephano leaves CU and the P12 CEO chair in 3-4 years. He continues backing Larry Scott through the start of TV negotiations. The P12N then screws up relationships with Amazon, Netflix, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube in style consistent with DirecTV.
CU goes on to hire Jack Kroll’s favorite candidate for president of the university, who unfortunately doesn’t get along with Rick George nor the new football HC Rick George hires. George leaves CU. CU’s new coach gets poached by Alabama after Saban retires. And once again, CU can’t have nice things.
Phil is a notorious foot dragger with a history of avoiding NCAA related arms races. Reference 2001 - 2014 as exhibit A.
A couple months ago Phil shared his belief that the conference should consider all options for leveraging its media content to create maximum value for the schools, even if it means selling an equity stake in the Pac-12 Networks. I read that to mean that some pricy consultants should be called in to submit a report in advance of the 2024 network negotiations.
Also Wilner values DiStephano’s opinions due to his relationship with Rick George. I read that to mean Rick George is a potential candidate to replace Larry Scott.
Given DiStephano’s role as Pres Benson’s lap-dog and his extremely long tenure at CU, it seems unlikely that Uncle Phil would stick around long after Benson finally calls it quits. Benson leaves, and Phil isn’t far behind.
We just can’t expect Phil to do much at this point, other than to pass the torch to some other old guy who also may similarly lack any bias for action for the next five years.
Best case: The CU’s regents hire a football friendly successor to Benson who then hires a kick ass football friendly chancellor in Boulder that gets along swimmingly with Rick George. The new guy breaths a breath of fresh air on the P12 CEO board.
Worse case: DiStephano leaves CU and the P12 CEO chair in 3-4 years. He continues backing Larry Scott through the start of TV negotiations. The P12N then screws up relationships with Amazon, Netflix, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube in style consistent with DirecTV.
CU goes on to hire Jack Kroll’s favorite candidate for president of the university, who unfortunately doesn’t get along with Rick George nor the new football HC Rick George hires. George leaves CU. CU’s new coach gets poached by Alabama after Saban retires. And once again, CU can’t have nice things.
Can't we just focus on winning the Spring game before we go all gloom and doom?
I think @Creebuzz earlier reference to "Uncle Phil" was to UO's Uncle Phil, not CU's Uncle Phil.
UO's Uncle Phil gets **** done, and given that this story is out of an Oregon newspaper - it wouldn't shock me if Uncle Phil is agitating for some change.