PuddleDuck

The student section.

I mentioned this on another thread, but the biggest blunder in this whole thing belongs to Apple. If they pushed the value per school to 35m they’d have owned west coast college football. (Outside of LA) Linear TV is dying and the PAC12 would have had the backing of a tech and media company that posts Billions in profits every quarter. Innovation is what got Oregon athletics where it is today, uniforms, facilities, billboards etc. The under 30 crowd doesn’t care what screen things are on, maybe even under 40. Apple would have been an amazing parter with Oregon for media innovation. Oregon took the sure thing and I understand why. But following tOSU and Michigan is not what built the Oregon we have now. I’m sure it’ll all be OK for OBD in the long run, but it was Apple that blew the chance to lead sports into streaming. To the OPs question. No, it was the wrong decision for being at the forefront of bold innovation and yes, it was was the right decision because of the stability and money. Apple should have offered enough guaranteed money.

Another angle to this, is that Apple blew it. If they had thrown in another 50m in guaranteed money they would have owned the West Coast college sports market. (Outside of LA) Streaming is where all TV is headed and Apple could have led the way in Sports. I know it’s not a popular opinion, but some of the innovation they were proposing sounds like it could have been really popular with student athletes, which would have been a boon to recruiting. Remember when the old traditionalists hated Oregon’s flashy uniforms? The athletes LOVED them, Oregon became a national brand and recruiting got a bit easier. It’s possible that this could have elevated the entire conference. Apple should have thrown down an extra week worth of IPhone profits and been the first into streaming college sports. I think it’s better than even odds it would have panned out, but Apple didn’t put up the cash to find out. There are lots of losers in the Pac breaking up, but Apple whiffed too.

I think leading with a streamer is fantastic. I’m not a dinosaur, but I do sometimes have to ask my kids to set my microwave clock, and I cut the cable cord years ago. Imagine having all the games in one place? Never having to figure out which channel, or realizing that it’s on the Pac12 network, that I can’t access or being out of town and not having it shown locally. You can stream the game ANYWHERE you are on any device you have. Get a Roku box or an Apple TV and plug it into the TV anywhere you are. I do that now when I travel and no longer have to channel surf in a hotel. Also, have you seen MLS on Apple TV+? It’s pretty great and will only get better. This could be fantastic.