[Farm93]

I know the rumor of the deal was listed elsewhere on the site, but it is now official the Pac-12 Networks and DISH signed a deal on Friday night.

http://pac-12.com/Sports/Pac-12News/Arti...works.aspx

DISH was obviously ready to go because all of the Saturday games will be available this weekend.  It is an amazing get for the Pac-12 networks because it puts enormous pressure on DirecTV to do something.  DirecTV positions itself as the best content provider for sports, and the satellite provider with the best channel options.  Now both can be called into question for many in the Mountain and Pacific time zones.

The Dish Network deal also puts greater pressure on the cable partners to put at least one Pac-12 channel on some sports package outside of the Pac-12 footprint.

I suspect all of DISH Networks' competitors had plans in place to respond quickly if a deal was reached, so I am hopeful that this deal will serve as a catalyst to the other content providers to step up.

[Farm93]

I know the rumor of the deal was listed elsewhere on the site, but it is now official the Pac-12 Networks and DISH signed a deal on Friday night.

http://pac-12.com/Sports/Pac-12News/Arti...works.aspx

DISH was obviously ready to go because all of the Saturday games will be available this weekend.  It is an amazing get for the Pac-12 networks because it puts enormous pressure on DirecTV to do something.  DirecTV positions itself as the best content provider for sports, and the satellite provider with the best channel options.  Now both can be called into question for many in the Mountain and Pacific time zones.

The Dish Network deal also puts greater pressure on the cable partners to put at least one Pac-12 channel on some sports package outside of the Pac-12 footprint.

I suspect all of DISH Networks' competitors had plans in place to respond quickly if a deal was reached, so I am hopeful that this deal will serve as a catalyst to the other content providers to step up.

[Extra Point]

ESPN is saying that Dish has an exclusive satellite deal! Direct TV cannot broadcast the Pac 12 network! This is bad news for those who watch Stanford games in sports bars.

[Extra Point]

ESPN is saying that Dish has an exclusive satellite deal! Direct TV cannot broadcast the Pac 12 network! This is bad news for those who watch Stanford games in sports bars.

[Farm93]

I think the ESPN news was that DISH is the exclusive Satellite provider THIS weekend.

I do not even think it is legally possible for a deal to be constructed that freezes a content provider out.  I would guess that DISH themselves lobbied for that because all of those FSNs could easily be shown ONLY on DirecTV, if the law permitted such a thing.

[Farm93]

I think the ESPN news was that DISH is the exclusive Satellite provider THIS weekend.

I do not even think it is legally possible for a deal to be constructed that freezes a content provider out.  I would guess that DISH themselves lobbied for that because all of those FSNs could easily be shown ONLY on DirecTV, if the law permitted such a thing.

[washingtonismoney]

There was definitely some confusion on this point, but judging from Stanford football's twitter feed, it's not an exclusive DISH deal and the pressure's still on DirecTV. I think they may have edited the press release, as the original version was confusing.

[washingtonismoney]

There was definitely some confusion on this point, but judging from Stanford football's twitter feed, it's not an exclusive DISH deal and the pressure's still on DirecTV. I think they may have edited the press release, as the original version was confusing.

[OutsiderFan]

Dish Network has an exclusive sponsorship deal with each Pac-12 school.  That means DirecTV may ultimately carry the network, but the Pac-12 member schools will push Dish Network as their preferred satellite partner, until this sponsorship expires.

Conference satellite TV category sponsorship rights were about the only leverage the Pac-12 had to use with DirecTV in negotiations.  They used it to get a deal done with Dish.  It remains to be seen how this Dish deal deal impacts DirecTV's negotiations, but I don't think it will have much impact.

The struggle the Pac-12 has is that it can't give DirecTV a better deal than the other carriers who signed on faster got, but DirecTV has the biggest leverage "chip" with the fact it is the only carrier that has NFL Sunday Ticket, and it will demand great terms.  Hopefully the Pac-12 agreements with the other carriers don't preclude DirecTV from getting the favorable terms it needs to get its own deal done with the Pac-12.

[OutsiderFan]

Dish Network has an exclusive sponsorship deal with each Pac-12 school.  That means DirecTV may ultimately carry the network, but the Pac-12 member schools will push Dish Network as their preferred satellite partner, until this sponsorship expires.

Conference satellite TV category sponsorship rights were about the only leverage the Pac-12 had to use with DirecTV in negotiations.  They used it to get a deal done with Dish.  It remains to be seen how this Dish deal deal impacts DirecTV's negotiations, but I don't think it will have much impact.

The struggle the Pac-12 has is that it can't give DirecTV a better deal than the other carriers who signed on faster got, but DirecTV has the biggest leverage "chip" with the fact it is the only carrier that has NFL Sunday Ticket, and it will demand great terms.  Hopefully the Pac-12 agreements with the other carriers don't preclude DirecTV from getting the favorable terms it needs to get its own deal done with the Pac-12.