Larry Scott for the unemployment line - Printable Version

+- The CardBoard (https://thecardboard.org/board)
+-- Forum: C-House! (https://thecardboard.org/board/forum-4.html)
+--- Forum: The CardBoard (https://thecardboard.org/board/forum-5.html)
+--- Thread: Larry Scott for the unemployment line (/thread-16425.html)

---

RE: Larry Scott for the unemployment line - Redrum - 09-16-2018

(09-16-2018, 05:49 AM)2006alum Wrote:  I think there's a lot of revisionist history going on here. I don't have time for a lengthy post on the history of our conference, but back when there was the massive conference realignment, Scott was the driving force to make it happen, and getting Colorado and Utah expanded our TV markets, which in turn enhanced the conference's value for its TV deal. When he signed the deal, it was an unprecedented deal for a conference. Yes, since then other conferences have copied us and added even more value, but I think we really underestimate the inherent disadvantages the PAC-12 has from the standpoint of recruiting, attendance, and interest. Just a few things to consider:

-77% of the country is in the Eastern or Central time zones. So primetime games on the west coast are only primetime for around 23% of the country. And it means that 4/5 of the country has no geographic reason to care about the PAC-12 at all.
-With the exception of U$C and Cal, 10 of the 12 PAC-12 schools are on the quarter system, which means fully 1/4 of football games are played before students have even returned to campus. That makes it harder to hype early games and maximize attendance.
-We have some serious geography separating our schools, many of which are no where near hub airports. The average distance between two PAC-12 schools is 630 miles, which is farther than any other P5 conference. That makes tailgates, away attendance, and developing a general culture of campus rivalries much harder to pull off.
-For whatever reason, west coast audiences don't care as much about college football and basketball. TV ratings are worse adjusted for population. I think part of this is that alternative and outdoor sports are more popular, and also that weekend weather is predictably much nicer for most west coast locales in the fall, so why stay inside and watch TV all day? By contrast, September games in the South could be 90+ degrees and November games in the BIG 10 can be 30 degrees.
-Geography and selectivity make recruiting harder. Collectively, the PAC-12 is by far the most academically rigorous conference. All four CA schools are among the top 25 undergraduate programs in the country. No other conference comes close. At the same time, apart from CA, we're a collection of largely rural states with a few big population centers (and many of the schools, including both Oregon Schools, WSU, and Colo., are far from a large international airport). I cannot imagine the recruiting hurdles that both WSU and OSU coaches face when trying to attract players, because, quite frankly, those schools just are not in geographically attractive or proximate locations.

All of these factors hurt fan interest, attendance, and viewing. Do "PAC-12 After Dark" games suck? Often, yes. But if an SEC game gets 3-4 times the viewers during East Coast primetime, in what universe does any TV network want to preempt that game for a PAC-12 game just so we get a 5 p.m. PST kickoff time?

Is the state of the PAC-12 perfect? No. Do I wish we had the same draw as East Coast conferences? Absolutely. But I think we need to be realistic about where we stand as a conference. At least for me, the PAC-12 network has been an enormous boon. As an East Coaster, I've been able to get most of our football games and nearly all of our men's and women's basketball games. Before the PAC-12 network, I'd catch a few random games that got nationally televised and that was it. I can't say how much harder it is to stay passionate about the players and teams when all you can do is read about them and watch Youtube clips. I have become substantially more engaged over the past few years as a result of being able to actually see the games (and, indeed, watching games on the PAC-12 network is what drew me to the CardBoard to begin with).

Just my two cents. I welcome yours.

If that’s your 2 cents,  can I be heir to your whole estate?
I can’t fault much of your analysis but it leads to the conclusion that we PAC 12 members are just screwed and USC’s and UCLA’s success/ failure are the only “control levers” for exposure and revenue. I’d rather stay up really  late (+ early ) back in the CST zone than seee more exposure, glory and revenue for them bastahds.

---