Four part Oregonian series on the issues facing the PAC 12

[longislandcuse]

Lots of interesting stuff here that pertains to viewership, fan base intensity, arms races, coaching salaries, football budgets and leadership.

Left out: How Larry Scott and the Pac-12 continue to lose ground in the college football arms race

A look inside the beleaguered Pac-12 instant-replay command center, where Woodie Dixon is still a central figure

Pac-12 loses 'staring contest' with DirecTV, leaving fans in the dark and limiting the conference's reach

Closing the door on the Pac-12 Conference headquarters: Is Larry Scott willing to make changes?

 

[Cusefan95]

Lots of interesting stuff here that pertains to viewership, fan base intensity, arms races, coaching salaries, football budgets and leadership.

Left out: How Larry Scott and the Pac-12 continue to lose ground in the college football arms race

A look inside the beleaguered Pac-12 instant-replay command center, where Woodie Dixon is still a central figure

Pac-12 loses 'staring contest' with DirecTV, leaving fans in the dark and limiting the conference's reach

Closing the door on the Pac-12 Conference headquarters: Is Larry Scott willing to make changes?

I’d wondered why the PAC-12 went from a legitimate power conference to one that’s almost irrelevant in football and basketball; after reading the articles it sounds like it’s not just a down period. There are major structural issues with the PAC-12, some of which aren’t really resolvable (you can’t make fans in California as passionate as ones in Louisiana).

The focus of university presidents on winning water polo national championships over competing in football may or may not be fixable as well.

 

[supp]

Lots of interesting stuff here that pertains to viewership, fan base intensity, arms races, coaching salaries, football budgets and leadership.

Left out: How Larry Scott and the Pac-12 continue to lose ground in the college football arms race

A look inside the beleaguered Pac-12 instant-replay command center, where Woodie Dixon is still a central figure

Pac-12 loses 'staring contest' with DirecTV, leaving fans in the dark and limiting the conference's reach

Closing the door on the Pac-12 Conference headquarters: Is Larry Scott willing to make changes?

Reads a bit like a hit piece. Larry Scott may spend money like a teenage Arab but $31 million per team is nothing to sneeze at and it is definitely not what is keeping the PAC-12 from competing. The PAC-12 office getting a share equal to the schools is not that unusual. I think the ACC does the same. Big 12 and ACC distributions are similar if not even less than the PAC-12 and they're competing for championships in football. What's left out is that football is cyclical. PAC-12 is in a down cycle, as is the B1G with all of their millions. And even with the conferences that are supposedly thriving, it's a handful of teams carrying the flag. If there is a sea change taking place, and I stress if, it's the rise of a select number of teams whose success is seemingly independent of their conference mates. Alabama is really competing against Clemson and Ohio State and Oklahoma rather than Mississippi State or Tennessee.

 

[corpjet]

Like it or not the country runs on the Eastern Time Zone. So much of their problem(s) is the time difference and the lack of exposure their teams get playing so late.

If I was the Commissioner every team would play games back east OOC and earlier start times (8pm eastern) for their high profile matchups. I know tv (Fox) will have to get on board but half their problem is the lack of exposure back east and traffic problems in some of their major markets, LA, San Fran and Seattle.

I just spoke with a friend who went to a Washington hoops game to see Hop coach. The game started at 6pm their time and he had to fight Seattle rush hour to get there on time.