Pac 12 Television Contract (link) -
Leftcoast - 02-17-2011
Interesting analysis on the upcoming Pac 12 television negotiations from Jon Wilner. Yup, that\'s right - this link combines Wilner, TV Access to Pac 12 sports and ESPN/Fox - THREE of the Cardboard\'s hotspots in just ONE article.
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/collegesports/2011/02/16/pac-12-football-and-basketball-thoughts-on-the-tv-negotiations-and-a-pac-12-network/
After reading through this blog entry I\'m resigned that Stanford fans better get ready for another 4-5 years of Fox sports - and I\'m not at all sure that\'s a bad thing. The way Wilner lays this out, it\'s clear ESPN wouldn\'t be good for West Coast sports, ESPN probably won\'t be the high bidder and the non-Fox broadcast options are slim.
I hope Scott is working HARD on how to improve the overall quality and availability from Fox as part of this future deal.
My personal pet peeves this year are, 1) Poor Fox production values, 2) Poor access to Stanford basketball this season (easier to watch the area\'s WCC schools), 3) Pac 12 BBall tournament will be played YET AGAIN in front of yawning "crowds" at Staples.
Re: Pac 12 Television Contract (link) -
97fan - 02-17-2011
Great points. I think we all would like to see the Pac-12 on ESPN, but we wouldn\'t want to be treated like second-class citizens there. And as Wilner indicates, it\'s hard to see how we would be anything but second-class citizens on ESPN. Given how much other programming ESPN is paying top dollar for, it\'s hard to see the Pac-12 getting marquee billing there.
I would rather see Comcast/NBC win the rights than Fox, because the Pac-12 would be a valued property there, and production values might be improved. It doesn\'t look like that\'s going to happen, though. Hopefully, as you said, Larry Scott will be able to demand better telecasts out of Fox than we\'re currently getting.