NJDuck Moderator No. 1 Share Posted July 12, 2023 Glaring issue when it comes to exposure, brands, kickoff times. A former newspaper colleague from the West Coast who took a job in the Eastern Time Zone told me that one of the first things he noticed after his move was how much that three-hour time difference mattered when it came to sports habits. By the time the Pac-12 kicks off a Saturday college football game, the Big Ten, ACC and SEC have saturated the market with highlights, scores, storylines and content. “Anything west of the Rockies,” he lamented, “feels like it’s happening on another planet.” The “Pac-12 After Dark” stuff is fun branding. The games are interesting to college football fans in the Pacific Time Zone, but by 7:30 p.m. PT the East Coast is more interested in finding a pillow. Canzano: Waking up to East Coast bias WWW.JOHNCANZANO.COM Glaring issue when it comes to exposure, brands, kickoff times. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Fischer Administrator No. 2 Share Posted July 12, 2023 He brings up a HUGE point about how streaming could change game-times, (Earlier) and thus improve game attendance. Not to mention the massive number of PAC-12 fans around the globe that would now have access to games through streaming—even if delayed. We could double our audience over what the PAC-12 Network has now! 1 1 4 Mr. FishDuck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph No. 3 Share Posted July 12, 2023 On 7/12/2023 at 11:48 AM, Charles Fischer said: He brings up a HUGE point about how streaming could change game-times, (Earlier) and thus improve game attendance. Not to mention the massive number of PAC-12 fans around the globe that would now have access to games through streaming—even if delayed. We could double our audience over what the PAC-12 Network has now! Spot On Charles! But how about quadruple plus instead of double? The Pac-12 Network has but 13M subscribers. Apple/Amazon/UTube, etc. will give access to far more households nationally and worldwide. And Apple is streaming NFL games today and UTube is replacing DirecTV in 2023 (for $2B and not the $1B paid by DirecTV) Sunday Night NFL games so they are not complete newbies. How long can Amazon/Paramount sit on the sideline? As streaming catches on better access to streaming apps and the ability to switch in and out of apps will happen. Consider the early loaf-of-bread size cell phones compared to the Smart Phones available today. It will be in all of the entities streaming sports events' best interests to make access far easier. And as to game times? Kick-off earlier in the day out west with the games streamed all day long. Yes, there is West Coast 'bias,' but it is largely based on Time Zones and population size. And with a 12-team playoff coming (that I think will go to 16 teams in 2026) ESPN, Fox, etc. cannot ignore CFB played on the West Coast. I can tell you as an Old Timer that it gets late far too early on the East Coast. Games that kick-off at 10:30 PM Eastern time are much watch for me on Sunday. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDuck No. 4 Share Posted July 12, 2023 I'm almost to the opinion now that the Pac-12 should just focus on making its product really attractive to West Coast viewers/attendees and forget trying to twist itself into a pretzel vs East Coast viewers. We all see the difference in perception...such as weather events on the Eastern seaboard are disasters on TV news, while similar events in the West get 5 seconds. Rinse and repeat on a variety of news topics. While Prime has about 150 million members in the USA, Prime Video is less than that, and about 9 million on average watched NFL Thursday night...but that was NFL which gets more viewers. Very few college games...regular season or bowls...come close to that. There will be an adjustment period for college fans who love channel surfing and jumping to watch multiple games, record to DVR, instant DVR replay of key plays, seeing no lag that exists often in streaming, etc. Hopefully, there will be some consolidation of streaming services to effect a consolidated price reduction vs individual subscription by streamer. And, jumping and lag problems will be solved. I too hope streaming will lead to better kickoff times, but conference value to a streamer(s) will drive that just like it does for ESPN/ABC, Fox, NBC.... If the Pac-12 wants the money, they will have to accede to streamer demands. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie No. 5 Share Posted July 12, 2023 I've always thought that PAC-12 After Dark translated to PAC-12, Afterthought. Except for Duck games, I don't stay up to watch games that start later than 6 pm. And I sell my tickets to games that start late and stay home, watch in my jammies, and make the 20-second walk from the family room to bed as soon as the game is over. I know that games that would start as early as 9 am here would be terribly inconvenient for most Duck fans, so, even if I had the power, I would not set that as a starting time for any games. But, being an early bird, I'd have no problem being in the stadium that early. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cacker Guy No. 6 Share Posted July 12, 2023 On 7/12/2023 at 12:14 PM, Annie said: I've always thought that PAC-12 After Dark translated to PAC-12, Afterthought. This! I think these games just reinforce East Coast bias. I have no idea how widely they are watched back east but I don't like staying up late Saturday night, so I don't even watch all that many. Plus weird things happen on PAC-12 After Dark; I'm always expecting upsets and holding my breath when the Ducks play late. I just can't get that 2019 game at ASU out of my memory. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Sousa No. 7 Share Posted July 12, 2023 The last line in the article is what got my attention: "If that’s not impressive, also know that Markley got along well with Chip Kelly." What??? a media type guy that got along with Chip Kelley??? No wonder he mentioned it! 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
OhioDuck No. 8 Share Posted July 12, 2023 Except for 2.5 years in Portland, I haven't lived any further west than Louisville, KY. In my experience the east coast bias is big and like most bias comes from ignorance. Yes, the late starting times of games with the time difference has something to do with it, but simple regional probably has more. More exposure to west coast games might help, but the east coast also views folks out west as a little too laid back, even cooky (Bill Walton is exhibit A for some folks back here). When I think of the crazy pace of much east coast life, maybe the east coast is the wacky coast, but I digress. Sports wise the west coast is not viewed as being tough enough or serious enough. If that is to change, the best games in the PAC need to start at noon or 1pm PST. I know night games live are lots of fun, but that excitement won't translate to east coast folks yawning because it is passed our bed time. I'll stay up late to watch the Ducks, but most won't. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
