[OutsiderFan]

It doesn't seem to me on the surface it would be a very good idea to take a 10% equity position in a college conference as an investor. The Pac-12 Network has very little value, so the notion it could be spun off for a profit is a bit looney, IMO.

So what additional assets could the conference create? Maybe - and I know this sounds nutty - the Pac-12 could use some of this newfound money to buy its own equity stakes in high schools that produce the best athletes, and as part of such a deal, get some sort of exclusive marketing rights at those schools? Could even be refusal to allow other college conference coaches from going on campus at those schools.

It would only make sense that the next step in the commercialization of professional amateur sports would be vertical integration of this sort, and you would have a first mover advantage if you acted quickly, before other conferences could. The point here is if the Pac-12 did raise $500 million of equity financing, what value would be created with it that would produce larger annual payouts for member schools?  Just handing out $40 million to each university would be incredibly dumb, a totally shortsighted move that wouldn't change the competitive market realities at all.

To me the reality is Pac-12 fans just don't have the same passion and can't register the same market demand the other conferences get. This is never going to be overcome, so if the conference wants to keep pace with its peers revenue-wise, it's going to have no choice but to look at getting into lines of business outside its core identity as an NCAA athletic conference.

[OutsiderFan]

It doesn't seem to me on the surface it would be a very good idea to take a 10% equity position in a college conference as an investor. The Pac-12 Network has very little value, so the notion it could be spun off for a profit is a bit looney, IMO.

So what additional assets could the conference create? Maybe - and I know this sounds nutty - the Pac-12 could use some of this newfound money to buy its own equity stakes in high schools that produce the best athletes, and as part of such a deal, get some sort of exclusive marketing rights at those schools? Could even be refusal to allow other college conference coaches from going on campus at those schools.

It would only make sense that the next step in the commercialization of professional amateur sports would be vertical integration of this sort, and you would have a first mover advantage if you acted quickly, before other conferences could. The point here is if the Pac-12 did raise $500 million of equity financing, what value would be created with it that would produce larger annual payouts for member schools?  Just handing out $40 million to each university would be incredibly dumb, a totally shortsighted move that wouldn't change the competitive market realities at all.

To me the reality is Pac-12 fans just don't have the same passion and can't register the same market demand the other conferences get. This is never going to be overcome, so if the conference wants to keep pace with its peers revenue-wise, it's going to have no choice but to look at getting into lines of business outside its core identity as an NCAA athletic conference.