29 Comments

strong "rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic" vibes

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Invite San Diego State and Fresno State to the Pac12. Hope Chip and USC enjoy their weekly trips to the Midwest and east coast.

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Tired of hearing Pac 12 is some lemon with no leverage. Bullschitt…they’re consistently the 3rd most profitable of the P5 Conferences, albeit with SC/UCLA, but that factored in the absolutely LOST year of COVID. $300M is not nothing.

Gotta at least give Kliavkoff a chance to make a move…

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If George asked my opinion:

Sign a deal with the ACC.

Get a sponsor and counter schedule a Game of the Week at SoFi every Saturday. Clemson vs. Oregon. I'll tell you. It would COMPLETELY undercut UCLA and if it's shiny enough of a production, Angelenos would flock to it.

I'd put a BILLION signs around LA that said this is Pac 12 Territory. I live here. This USC/UCLA thing might be smart over the long term, but while they're feeling like a fish out of water playing Indiana, we need to hit them hard and make it seem like they gave up their own town. Fuck em.

Sell the Pac 12 Network.

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Jul 6, 2022·edited Jul 6, 2022

I love all these ideas.

The only thing I would add is to bring SDSU and Fresno State into the Pac to help with Pac12 assault on SoCal.

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I liked the Canzano article. It gave me a breath of hope knowing CAL has a solid media value and the PAC most likely has a media partner in their back pocket so if CNN or Fox don't step up with a good deal in the next 30 days, the PAC has a solid fall back position. Also, with the way some of these conferences are being quickly dismantled and reassembles, we are seeing a new way of structuring deals. Everyone will go where the get the most money in the end and it won't always be equal going forward. Sounds like Kliafoff has been doing some behind the scenes wheeling and dealing and we might expect a number of outcomes which should all be good for CAL and the remaining PAC schools. Only time will tell.

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If we are on CNN, we can watch Cal game from around the world

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Jul 5, 2022·edited Jul 6, 2022

I have said this before that the Pac12 should be knocking on Amazon Prime, Netflix and AppleTVs door to negotiate an exclusive streaming rights to all their sports content. Streaming is the future, not cable TV.

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AppleTV would be great. They’re already doing baseball games.

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Yep and Amazon Prime will be doing Thursday night NFL games.

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New contract is going to stipulate all future pac 12 games will be after dark. Shits going to be wild!

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The only way I see a major media deal working would be a sudden deal with Netflix or something (which would actually be a pretty cool way to reach an younger audience that has largely cut the cable)

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And cut off the majority of customer base. If you thought total viewership ratings for the P-12 network were bad, just wait.

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Do those little schitts even like college sports?

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This has one of those "The best I can do is.." Pawn Stars memes written all over it

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Polishing that turd hahaha

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Talk about whistling past the graveyard....The Pac has ZERO leverage for a new TV deal. If I read the article correctly, remaining schools would sign up for slightly LESS money? I'm sure that recruits are chomping at the bit to be part of a conference like that. Face it: It's the Big-10 (maybe the Big-12) or we are DEAD. If that happens, say; "Hello University of Chicago, a.k.a, where fun goes to die".

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The one thing the conference has to sell is the Saturday night market, something the more easterly conferences and schools can't fill. And just what most of the customer base does not want to see happen. Except its where things stand. The choice is sign for slightly less money or for significantly less money.

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One interesting theory is a kind of loose alliance with the ACC, where the leagues would have some limited cross-conference games and a championship game for the winners of each side. If you bundle the leagues together, they could definitely get a good media deal.

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Both Wilner and Canzano have reported on this, so it's not just idle speculation. Seems like a legit possibility.

https://twitter.com/wilnerhotline/status/1544432745446776832

https://twitter.com/johncanzanobft/status/1544428954525634560

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We were very recently in an alliance with Big 10 I believe. It didn't help us at all.

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That was an "alliance" without any real contractual requirements to it. A Pac/ACC merger would have to come with some.

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Is "loose alliance" any better?

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Again, if it comes with contractual requirements, then yes.

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Looser than diarrhea.

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Yes and no. If they are thinking outside the box the pac-12 might be able to negotiate something groundbreaking. After all we're in the seventh largest global economy in California and we should be able to financially outwit the Midwest and south.

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Curious to know if the Regents or State of CA have weighed in. Still surprised they would permit UCLA to walk without Cal

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They've already walked, and the Regents / State of California have done nothing. The State politico's have their own fish to fry, Cal's fate is effectively not on their radar. We're on our own, and there is no Deus Ex Machina from the Regents or the State, plain and simple. If Kliavkoff can keep the remaining schools in the Pac-10 while getting a competitive TV rights deal, he will have earned his salary, and then some.

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Very interesting and I guess George is punching above his weight class. A bit of Vegas pixie dust and tinseltown experience might be paying off.

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