[81alum]

I think when you boil down all the gripes, MT, it is strictly about being on ESPN.  Barnes clearly thinks she can only "increase visibility" (which translates into recruiting and better NIL deals) if Arizona gets more ESPN coverage, and thinks of Pac 12 networks as an inferior substitute.  I presume that most high school recruits outside the Pac 12 geographic footprint do not happen to subscribe to a package with Pac 12 networks available to them, but that they do have ESPN.

I won't get into the Pac 12 Networks debate since I know less about it than many others on this board, but there have been so many critical threads that my eyes have glazed over.  Tara has always been complimentary of Pac 12 Networks--I think because without it our TV coverage was pretty woeful.  In those days we said much the same thing about UConn and ESPN as Arizona is saying now about Stanford and ESPN, although I agree that the situation is not comparable, even though the rhetoric is.

[81alum]

I think when you boil down all the gripes, MT, it is strictly about being on ESPN.  Barnes clearly thinks she can only "increase visibility" (which translates into recruiting and better NIL deals) if Arizona gets more ESPN coverage, and thinks of Pac 12 networks as an inferior substitute.  I presume that most high school recruits outside the Pac 12 geographic footprint do not happen to subscribe to a package with Pac 12 networks available to them, but that they do have ESPN.

I won't get into the Pac 12 Networks debate since I know less about it than many others on this board, but there have been so many critical threads that my eyes have glazed over.  Tara has always been complimentary of Pac 12 Networks--I think because without it our TV coverage was pretty woeful.  In those days we said much the same thing about UConn and ESPN as Arizona is saying now about Stanford and ESPN, although I agree that the situation is not comparable, even though the rhetoric is.