Jon Joseph

Or, the chance to be a leader in where sports broadcasting is headed and a partner with one of the world's richest, most successful companies with business relationships far greater than the 13M who subscribe to the Pac-12 Network. I'm not the least surprised with the structure of a base dollar amount and the chance to earn additional money via the # of subscriptions. This will be the format for the coming world of new media. I believe many of us are correct in regard to the staying power of the Oregon brand. This being the case, IMO providing an equal share to all conference members will not be in line with the Oregon brand's market power. This is where I hope the powers-that-be at Oregon make sure that if, as we expect, Oregon is far more watched than other Pac teams, Oregon will receive a bigger slice of the revenue pie. No more drafting on the Oregon brand. No more agreeing to equal shares for teams that do not make equal investments in the Moneyball sports. Even with a $20M base why would CU and other teams leave for $11.7M over this base when boosters can easily make the difference up and a team's success in CFB and men's CBB will have Pac teams on an equal footing with B12 and ACC teams without the rigors of travel on the athletes. I am not a glass-half-full kind of guy and the conference approach to the new media deal negotiations has left much to be desired but this deal does give Oregon a chance to catch a wave into the new media broadcast world. Take a bite out of Apple now and less than a decade from now the conference's media deal could be envied by teams stuck in a world of linear-only content. Based on the old world, the deal is problematic. Based on the New World which ESPN will be joining sooner rather than a later an opportunity awaits.

The meeting in Arizona includes Arizona, ASU., and Northern Arizona. Probably not the locale and setting for U of A to make a decision on the Pac or B12?

Gold: Finally, Pac-12 football season is almost upon us SATURDAYOUTWEST.COM Mercifully for Pac-12 brass, the calendar flipping to August means the season is almost here. And that's a good thing, as the league...

Media.com - Pac- 9 and B13, ranking of average viewer numbers watching football in 2022. Pac - 9./ OREGON, 33. Utah, 34. UW, 41. WA St, 45. Cal, 47. Stanford, 57. OR St, 61, Arizona, 70. ASU B13 - / 13. TCU, 24. Oklahoma St, 29. Baylor, 30. Kansas St, 38. BYU, 42. Iowa St, 51. W. Virginia, 52. Kansas, 54. Texas Tech, 55. Cincinnati, 61. UCF, 66. Colorado, 78. Houston Which inventory would you rather be marketing? Which of the Pac-9/B13, went to the market with a realistic value of its worth? Which went to the market before the media market suffered a correction in the wrong direction? If you could destroy a media dollar competitor by taking in the numbers 13., 24., 29., 30., 52. and 54. ranked teams, adding millions of new viewers to your network and thus achieving far better national distribution, would you not have done so? Would effete academic concerns have prevented you from doing so? Two decades of terrible leadership = $20M a team, although I remain more optimistic in regards to the bottom line number, why should any of us be surprised? You reap what you sow and do not sow. Oregon needs to find better partners ASAP and not be dragged down by partners with no business sense.

Not sure about the seating differential but I don't see Oregon State at San Jose State on the list.

Can't Catch Him! I just finished watching a replay of the 2012 Rose Bowl (10+ years ago, really?) and watching DAT go 91 yards for a TD versus Wisconsin. Man, were those Ducks fun to watch and I am so happy to see DL bring back the brand. Let's Play Ball!

Laughing, once again, at the GIF and not the thought.

The ACC has 15 member schools including Notre Dame which is of course independent in football and ND's hockey team plays in the B1G. (ND did win the NCAA lacrosse title this season.) 8 schools need to depart the ACC for it to dissolve without members having to pay an exit fee. Maybe Time is a flat circle and tomorrow we will be back to the future with a Pac-8 conference. If so, in regard to the Pac and the ACC, this coast-to-coast merger would be viable and move the ACC/Pac into 3rd place in what would be a Power 4 money race. Pac-8 plus Atlantic 8 could look like this - Clemson, DUKE, GEORGIA TECH, FSU, NC St, MIAMI, UNC, PITT (All caps = AAU member schools.) Pitt and Georgia Tech are the westernmost members of the ACC. Atlanta is west of Detroit. Pitt plants a flag in B1G territory. To help with harmony and CBB, add Louisville, UVA, VA Tech, and Wake Forest to the East Division. No need to add travel to Boston and Syracuse. To pick up the So Cal market add SDSU and add SMU, Rice, and Tulane to alleviate, somewhat, travel demands. SMU, Rice, with a 47,000-seat football stadium that can be expanded to 55,000, and Tulane, are all academic fits. Play CFB and men's and women's CBB coast-to-coast. Focus on intra-division play for the other sports. This would limit travel to the Eastern time zone. Western-most Tulane is in the Central time zone. One time zone away for Utah and 2 for the other Pac-8 members. But it's easy for me to assemble and link-up college teams on the JJ railroad. I have no idea whatsoever if the above would be acceptable to the Pac and ACC powers that be and do not believe my idea even warrants rumor status. But I most definitely do not see a merger of this nature as being injurious to the long-term future of Oregon sports. 16 to 24 teams bargaining collectively would have market power; especially, with the elimination of a Power 5 conference. Que sera, sera.

https://athlonsports.com/college-football/college-football-insider-explains-why-big-12-likely-wont-add-oregon-or-washington

Billy Joe Herbert?

And how badly Fox wants to screw over ESPN.

Sorry for the dupe post. This rumor belongs in Fantasy Land but what in the heck do I know? I do not see B1G Prez taking in non-AAU member schools Clemson and FSU when the B1G doesn't need the money and already extends coast-to-coast. Why would Ohio State, Michigan, etc., want to recruit against Clemson and FSU? Who is going to come up with $60M plus for each school in alimony payments? The only reason this has a heartbeat IMO would be Fox Network's determination to hose over ESPN.

THIS is an example of why I am more than ready for some football. https://athlonsports.com/college-football/big-ten-expansion-rumors-clemson-florida-state-oregon-washington Neither Clemson nor FSU is an AAU member school. This matters to B1G Prez. And about that $60M + buy out? Details. Now, based on my recent track record, watch this happen.

Records will be broken in the deepest Pac-12 conference in years. Will Bo Nix eclipse one or more of Marcus Mariota's records? And will Troy Franklin break the Oregon season TD record with more than 12 TDs? Not long now before our winter of discontent turns into glorious college football. It will be so nice to have results on the field to ponder instead of dealing with a ream of rumors. Gold: 9 potential Pac-12 conference records and team records that could fall in 2023 SATURDAYOUTWEST.COM Records are made to be broken, and with some superstars -- even a record-breaking kicker! -- returning, a handful of the Pac-12's...

Great recap. How objective was Larry with his network CEO salary on the line when it came to valuing the ESPN offer? I'll wager donuts to dollars that Larry did not recuse himself from the discussions and the board of directors allowed this to happen when the network never once reached its lowest projected revenue distributions. BTW, I wonder who hired the consultants that came up with glorified, absurd projections? But I don't have to ponder this too long to determine the usual suspect. Harvard, Stanford, and every business school in the nation should present a case study of what happens when totally unqualified people serve on a board of directors. People who put their 'shareholders' behind effete academic requirements. The opposite case study is to look at the SEC and see what a qualified incented group of directors under the purview of qualified administrators can do to elevate a conference that before the BCS was on the same footing as the Pac-10/12. The B1G is big only because of the location of its member institutions and because of having legions of Alumni/Alumnae. Too B1G to fail. For the Pac Conference, it has been two decades plus of see-foot, shoot. If the NIKE board and not an unqualified group of academicians had been calling the shots things would have been far different.

Wrathis, I agree with your thoughts and strongly agree with Charles that Oregon will land on its webbed feet. With the B1G playing 9 conference games and USC playing Notre Dame, I don't see Troy in a hurry to schedule another P5 team OOC; however, having said this, SC does play both LSU and ND in 2024. I do think we will see SC and UCLA play Cal or Stanford in a given year. If I were a UCLA representative I'd go to the Board of Regents with an offer to play Cal every year as soon as the schedule allows with Cal getting a 2-for-1 deal with two games played in Berkeley every 3 years. This, instead of having to pay a Cal tax. As to CU, like Rhett Butler, I frankly don't give a damn. I do hope Oregon takes the opportunity this season to stick it to Prime and to Lincoln Riley. One thing for certain, I pray that the powers-that-be in Eugene will not schedule any one-off games versus the LA schools. Do nothing to alleviate the travel headaches these 2 illegitimate offspring will encounter. My Swami deductive powers; well, I've lost my mojo. But I continue to be sunny side up when it comes to Ducks sports.

Thank you once again, Coach, for the excellent tutorial.

Does the merit of an Oregon or Stanford degree rest one whit on the success of after-school sports? I played in the college sports little league world of D3. None of us were on scholarship but we had a lot of fun playing ball and hockey out of the national spotlight as did those in the drama club, debating club, science club, outdoors club, etc. Oregon will end up in the conference where it is supposed to end up. And Oregon sports will be successful no matter the arena in which sports are contested. All speculation as to the landing place will not matter one iota as to where Puddles makes its nest. All of this pondering is interesting but will not dictate or influence where Oregon calls its conference home. The fact that money will dictate the decision makes the Dinosaur in me (spot on Charles) somewhat sad. But seeing the concepts of loyalty, ethics, tradition, and camaraderie disappearing in a cesspool of dollars makes me even more sad. What will happen will happen and the University of Oregon and its sports teams will be just fine.

https://collegefootballnews.com/cfn/top-10-big-12-and-pac-12-expansion-candidates

How about a money-over-hubris shift?

https://athlonsports.com/college-football/multiple-schools-have-applied-to-join-pac-12-following-colorados-move-to-big-12

The ACC/Pac merger makes the most sense IMO for Oregon at this time. Lawyers loop the holes and this could be construed as a break up of the ACC which means the existing media deal with ESPN that runs through 2036 goes away. The ACC base deal stinks; however, the ACC due to ACC Network revenue distribution, delivered $40M to each member school in 2022. More than the B12 and the Pac-12 distributed. Call the combined conference what you will, Coast-to-Coast or otherwise, Oregon would get a viewing bump by being folded into what is today's ACC network owned and operated by ESPN and available on all major cable channels including DirecTV. Oregon would be a far bigger presence in the ACC than in the B1G. A full partner instead of a partner junior to Rutgers and Northwestern. I'd prefer to be a bigger Duck in a smaller pond than be behind Ohio State, Michigan, USC, Iowa, Wisconsin, and UCLA in terms of having influence in the B1G. Oregon's viewer numbers are better than any ACC team other than Clemson. UW and Utah are right there with FSU. These would be the national rankings based on 2022 football viewership 6. Notre Dame - this would be the prize and could happen with ND getting a favored nation deal and the existing ACC football scheduling agreement with ND going away. 10. Clemson/ 12. Oregon/ 15. FSU/ 33. Utah/ 34. UW/ 41. Washington State/ 43. NC St/ 45. Cal/ 46. UNC/ 47. Stanford/ 48. Syracuse/ 49. Georgia Tech/ 56. Pitt/ 57. Oregon State/ 59. Miami/ 60. Wake/ 61. Arizona/ 62. Louisville/ 68. BC/ 70. ASU/ 75. VA Tech/ 78. UVA/ 93. Duke. This would be a merger of equals with 4 Pac teams, excluding ND, being in the top 6 most watched. Oregon would have a great deal of influence in this scenario. And the numbers for CBB would be far better than the Pac-9 viewer numbers. Travel would be abated by going with divisions or with pod scheduling. I think that in the long run, this would be far better than following the B12 and adding a patchwork of G5 teams. This would drop more money to the bottom line today and this conference would clearly come in #3 in a Power 4. The ACC has already agreed that teams making the CFB and CBB playoffs will receive a bigger piece of the pie. Certainly, Oregon has more in common with ACC schools than it does with B12 schools. I wouldn't simply ignore this possibility for realignment.

Oregon - 2024 - at Hawaii - makes sense for recruiting Pacific Islanders. 2024 - at Boise State/ 2028 - at Utah State. SENSELESS. You need to do a 2 for one to get Alabama once in Autzen I get it. But to play at Boise and Utah St so you can get MW teams in Autzen twice makes IMO, no sense. Where is the financial and on-the-field benefit of this kind of scheduling? Too late to dump Texas Tech but not too late to dump Baylor and Ok St. Why give any additional pub to the B12 and basically play no-win games? Why give Fox an upgrade in B12 inventory? Games you are expected to win and are dissed nationally if you take the L. I saw no reason to schedule these teams, to begin with. What kind of tradition does OR have playing B12 schools? Other than Rob following the TX Tech AD as chair of the football playoff committee. With the PO going to 12 teams in 2024 and with the top 6 ranked conference champs in the field, Oregon needs a spotlight OOC game every season. The game 'at' UGA drew 6M+ eyeballs and even with the beat down Oregon, had Bo stayed healthy, had a great chance at the Final 4. A win in Lubbock would not have done more for Oregon than the loss in Atlanta. I don't expect the Pac-8 to smarten up but today, Oregon has to make smart, calculated moves to make an impact nationally and escape the nation's nonchalance when it comes to the northwest. The Oregon brand is strong but it will not sell itself. In many respects, I think Rob and the OR SID are missing in action. Where are the Joey Heisman billboards? And the promotion of basketball, men, and women both, is sorely lacking. With bonuses, Rob makes over $1M a year. No more excuses as to how difficult it is to sell teams on coming to Autzen; especially, when Wisconsin is playing in Pullman, Florida in SLC, and Auburn in Berkeley. Do the darn job!

After CU? I smell smoke from whatever source and I'm looking for fire. All we heard from the Pac-9 emergency meeting was SSDD. I have absolute trust and faith in the Oregon brand and zero trust in GK and the people who hired GK. Forget a patchwork Pac, leave ASAP for a full share in the ACC or a lesser split in the B1G.

Fun thoughts and no B1G deal but New Orleans and Memphis are both in the Central time zone. Makes for easier travel than SC and UCLA will face in the B1G and CU has to trip to West Virginia and Orlando. I'd take UNLV over Fresno. The viewer numbers for #45 most viewed Cal - 857K and #47- Stanford - 846K are not all that bad. Fresno comes in at #79 with 220K viewers And I doubt that the 2 SFO schools would want to compete with Fresno for recruits. UNLV is not a much-watched team but Clark County opens up a new market and back in the day UNLV won an NCAA CBB title. With Allegiant Stadium, new practice facilities for football, and the Thomas + Mack Arena for CBB, UNLV has facilities superior to those of Fresno. UNLV has also won NCAA golf championships and has been very competitive in baseball. SDSU and UNLV would be scheduling partners. UTSA is a hidden gem. San Antonio in football-mad Texas does not, of course, have a pro football team. A great partner for SMU. One of Boise State or Colorado State would appear to be a good potential scheduling partner for Utah. But assuming the Pac stays at 9 without further defections, I'd add SDSU, UNLV, and SMU and stay at a very manageable 12 members. Salt Lake to Dallas is a 989-mile flight distance taking 2 hours and 17 minutes. The flight time from SLC to Seattle is 2 hours and 3 minutes so close to the same travel rigors. But, is adding 3 or more G5 teams really the best long-term approach for Oregon? The NCAA, somewhat unbelievably recognizes a conference of 6 or more schools. 9 schools work through the 2025/26 season and the CFB Playoff and the Pac are contractually bound playoff partners for this and the next 2 seasons. Drop to an 8 game schedule. for 2024/2025 with an eye on joining a more profitable home before 2025. The problem. What media affiliate broadcasts the games in 2024 and 2025? And what would be the cost of buying another regular season game if the conference drops to 8 games? In the long run, I believe that some kind of a merger with the ACC as a full share member makes, but for the geography, the most sense. Oregon would not have to be an ACC junior media revenue partner. And I would be shocked if some kind of back-channel, at least, communication with the B1G is going on today for Oregon to join as a junior partner. Off-the-wall, the SEC adds OK St, 1.68M viewers, Utah, 1.16M viewers, Oregon, 2.210M Viewers, UW, 1.150M viewers, and Arizona and ASU for the Phoenix market. All would join as junior SEC media revenue partners. But why would the SEC do this instead of looking east? Size goes to size in business. Conferences will continue to evolve and devolve. A merger with the ACC, especially if Notre Dame was to join as a most-favored-nation football partner would result in a Power 4 with the ACC/Pac being in a solid third place. I think this is far more favorable than adding a patchwork of G5 schools. Lot's to ponder.