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ESPN/PAC-12 NOT Having ‘Substantive Talks’ as Conference Fights to Survive

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Another article about media rights deal situation.  At this time who knows what is true and what isn't.  Marchand is usually a good source.

 

The PAC-12’s fight for a new media deal continues to look very bleak.

 

Commissioner George Kliavkoff has been doing his best to land a new deal for the conference, but so far, nothing has come to fruition. The PAC-12 is holding out hope ESPN might come in and save the day with a huge check.

 

There had previously been reports ESPN wasn’t interested in the PAC-12’s tier one media rights, but there was some dispute at the time how accurate that claim was.

 

ESPN hasn’t moved on the PAC-12.

 

Now, it sounds like the situation definitely hasn’t improved between the two sides. Andrew Marchand, one of America’s best reporters when it comes to sports and media, reported Monday the two sides “are having no substantive talks at this time.”

 

“ESPN passed on the Big Ten, Sunday Ticket, Premier League, Champions League and MLS, so the idea that it will be completely out on the Pac-12 is not in the least bit surprising. Things can always change, and maybe the Pac-12 can figure out a creative way to get ESPN involved, but right now that seems very unlikely,” Marchand explained in his Monday report.

 

WWW.OUTKICK.COM

The PAC-12's fight for a new media deal continues to look very bleak. The conference reportedly isn't making progress with ESPN.

 

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Well, either the PAC leadership is lying to us with its recent positive statements or this is another example of the outside attempts to destroy the PAC. I’ll bet on the later. 

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Well i read and reread the article. ..

 

Unless i missed it, i did not see anything that said......

 

It has been confirmed by (Name within Espn) that ESPN is not in talks with the PAC for its Tier One Media rights.

 

How in hells name does anyone outaide of the negotiating room know anything substanrive on the matter.

 

Without a linear carry the PAC exposure would be DOA. If any PAC team knew this as fact......

 

The conference would be coming apart at the seams.

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Jon Wilner, who I trust along with Canzano to accurately report the situation reported the exact opposite of this article today.

 

Rumor-mongering will continue until a deal is announced.

 

ESPN needs late-night broadcast inventory. Fox has this with the LA market and SC does not.

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On 5/22/2023 at 2:56 PM, Jon Joseph said:

ESPN needs late-night broadcast inventory. Fox has this with the LA market and SC does not.

And ESPN wants it on the cheap if they can. 

 

Streaming isn't quite there yet for numbers and ESPN knows this and I wouldn't be surprised if they are trying to leverage it to get the PAC on the cheap. 

 

Fox would probably like to see the PAC collapse so they can push Oregon and Washington to the B1G and they consolidate the west coast. 

 

Right now I can just see ESPN wanting PAC games for that late night spot but doesn't want to give them earlier time slots because they want those for their prizes conference, the SEC. 

 

I do feel the problem with the PAC right now is that the conference isn't seen as worthy of primetime, certynit east coast primetime, but we are good filler but filler doesn't cost big dollars. 

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On 5/22/2023 at 6:58 PM, David Marsh said:

they are trying to leverage it to get the PAC on the cheap. 

Throughout this fiasco, writers have often used the language "pennies on the dollar" when referring to what they think ESPN/FOX want to pay for the PAC.

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We've already been experiencing this a lot in the last few years, but I think we have to get used to even more 7:00 games, with the Big10 and the SEC with their new deals I suspect we'll be seeing even less 12:30, 3:30, 4:00, or 5:00 games, unless we go to the Big10 and we're on the road in Wisconsin or wherever.  Of course it will help if we're a top 10 team, but Fox and ESPN will basically ignore us for any prime spots.  

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On 5/22/2023 at 7:33 PM, spartan2785 said:

We've already been experiencing this a lot in the last few years, but I think we have to get used to even more 7:00 games, with the Big10 and the SEC with their new deals I suspect we'll be seeing even less 12:30, 3:30, 4:00, or 5:00 games, unless we go to the Big10 and we're on the road in Wisconsin or wherever.  Of course it will help if we're a top 10 team, but Fox and ESPN will basically ignore us for any prime spots.  

I think if the conference gets paid well enough the fan base will swallow it for now. 

 

The problem is that those late night games don't bring in the same kind of eyeballs as earlier games because the east coast isn't staying awake for them. so the networks don't want to pay for them at full price but the bargain rate because they aren't primetime games. 

 

Pay each PAC member 50 mil and I'll live with a bunch of 7 pm start times... Just long enough until Oregon wins a national title and demands better game times.

 

Also... Friday night games would be something interesting to offer as well. 

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Friday night games would leave Autzen stadium with a lot of empty seats.  I don't know the percentages, but I suspect close to 50% of season ticket holders do not live within 30 miles of Autzen stadium.  I know 50% of my tailgate lives in Portland.

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On 5/22/2023 at 9:58 PM, David Marsh said:

And ESPN wants it on the cheap if they can. 

 

Streaming isn't quite there yet for numbers and ESPN knows this and I wouldn't be surprised if they are trying to leverage it to get the PAC on the cheap. 

 

Fox would probably like to see the PAC collapse so they can push Oregon and Washington to the B1G and they consolidate the west coast. 

 

Right now I can just see ESPN wanting PAC games for that late night spot but doesn't want to give them earlier time slots because they want those for their prizes conference, the SEC. 

 

I do feel the problem with the PAC right now is that the conference isn't seen as worthy of primetime, certynit east coast primetime, but we are good filler but filler doesn't cost big dollars. 

Good take. But especially with the problems the B1G is having finalizing its new media deal does Fox really want to be spending more on B1G inventory? 

 

Fox just took it in the shorts with a close to a billion-dollar judgment against it from non-sports media activity. This is a big number for any business to swallow.

 

And today's economy is not as robust as even a year ago. Fox is only the middle-man in its media deals. It has to sell off the conference media rights it has bought to advertisers to make a profit.

 

The Pac-10 deal is obviously, taking a long time but this is not a seller's market and I'm certain that GK wants to have a deal fully nailed down before bringing the deal to the conference as a whole.

 

The conference does not want to have a Kevin Warren-like egg on its face. As to Warren, this couldn't have happened any better. I wonder if the Pac-10 is reaching out to UCLA to see if the Bruins are having 2nd thoughts. 

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On 5/23/2023 at 11:10 AM, Tandaian said:

Friday night games would leave Autzen stadium with a lot of empty seats.  I don't know the percentages, but I suspect close to 50% of season ticket holders do not live within 30 miles of Autzen stadium.  I know 50% of my tailgate lives in Portland.

Tan, I think it depends on the opponent. A Friday night kick-off against USC, UW, Utah, UCLA, Oregon State, and a big-time OOC opponent, is going to sell out. Against Hawaii, I think there would be empty seats.

 

This season's game versus Prime Time would definitely be a Friday night sell-out.

 

But I feel the pain of people traveling from Portland and man, I miss when CFB was played in the sunshine.

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On 5/23/2023 at 12:12 AM, David Marsh said:

I think if the conference gets paid well enough the fan base will swallow it for now. 

 

The problem is that those late night games don't bring in the same kind of eyeballs as earlier games because the east coast isn't staying awake for them. so the networks don't want to pay for them at full price but the bargain rate because they aren't primetime games. 

 

Pay each PAC member 50 mil and I'll live with a bunch of 7 pm start times... Just long enough until Oregon wins a national title and demands better game times.

 

Also... Friday night games would be something interesting to offer as well. 

An interesting dichotomy. East Coast fans may be asleep yet the networks want the inventory because it still draws more eyeballs than anything other than an NFL broadcast.

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True, the opponent does matter, but having more than one Friday night game, not including Black Friday, makes it tough. 

 

I'm glad I live in Eugene, so I can usually make most games, no matter the time or weather conditions.

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On 5/22/2023 at 10:33 PM, spartan2785 said:

We've already been experiencing this a lot in the last few years, but I think we have to get used to even more 7:00 games, with the Big10 and the SEC with their new deals I suspect we'll be seeing even less 12:30, 3:30, 4:00, or 5:00 games, unless we go to the Big10 and we're on the road in Wisconsin or wherever.  Of course it will help if we're a top 10 team, but Fox and ESPN will basically ignore us for any prime spots.  

Spot on. I very much doubt that ESPN wants to surrender the west coast market to arch-rival Fox and the LA market. 

 

Which will draw the most viewers? Purdue at  UCLA or UW at Oregon?

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On 5/22/2023 at 10:09 PM, 2002duck said:

Throughout this fiasco, writers have often used the language "pennies on the dollar" when referring to what they think ESPN/FOX want to pay for the PAC.

How do you make money in any business or as an individual? Buy low, sell high.

 

And media companies have to buy inventory and flip it to advertisers at a profit. Not so easily accomplished in today's economy.

 

Your great comment explains why I don't see a B1G bid coming for OR/UW before Fox knows the details of the new media deal.

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It will be very interesting to see the B1G football schedule.  Are they really going to alternate USC and UCLA having 7:00 pm kick offs with each receiving six 7:00 pm games?

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On 5/22/2023 at 10:33 PM, spartan2785 said:

We've already been experiencing this a lot in the last few years, but I think we have to get used to even more 7:00 games, with the Big10 and the SEC with their new deals I suspect we'll be seeing even less 12:30, 3:30, 4:00, or 5:00 games, unless we go to the Big10 and we're on the road in Wisconsin or wherever.  Of course it will help if we're a top 10 team, but Fox and ESPN will basically ignore us for any prime spots.  

I think we will see the games vs CU, and USC, in Seattle and in Salt Lake City in prime time on ESPN.

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On 5/22/2023 at 11:16 AM, HappyToBeADuck said:

Well i read and reread the article. ..

 

Unless i missed it, i did not see anything that said......

 

It has been confirmed by (Name within Espn) that ESPN is not in talks with the PAC for its Tier One Media rights.

 

How in hells name does anyone outaide of the negotiating room know anything substanrive on the matter.

 

Without a linear carry the PAC exposure would be DOA. If any PAC team knew this as fact......

 

The conference would be coming apart at the seams.

How does anyone outside the negotiating room know?

 

Leaks, confidential sources, the way many stories are broken.

 

Not saying it’s true…….but it could be.  To quote Yogi, “It ain’t over…….”

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