Canzano: 'It Ain't Going to be an Easy Road for USC and UCLA'

[Charles Fischer]

Mr. FD: This is not all of his article today, but some tasty morsels I found interesting.  I would suggest subscribing and supporting independent writing that is right here in Oregon. (Beyond FishDuck of course!)

 

JC: "I think UCLA is going to pay close attention to the distribution number the Pac-12 ends up with in the media-rights deal. After increased travel expenses and the actual travel burden, how far ahead do the Bruins actually feel like they ended up? Who knows? Maybe UCLA will be happy and win a pile of Big Ten titles. But ex-Nebraska athletic director Bill Moos told me that the move to the Big Ten was an eye opener for the Huskers."

 
'It ain’t going to be an easy road for USC and UCLA,' Moos told me. “At Nebraska, we took teams into Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State… let’s just say, there aren’t going to be any 10-2 seasons.”

 

Mr. FD: WOWWWWW.  

 

JC: "Strike or not, live-sports programming is unique. It brings large and immediate audiences to the screen in a way nothing else can. Interesting that Disney and ESPN cut $3 billion in content expenses from the balance sheet, but didn’t trim a dime from its live-sports programming budget. I expect the spending in that area to continue, particularly as ESPN moves towards becoming an all-stream, direct-to-consumer product."

 

Q: What about the recent ACC deal with CW? Any idea how much that will boost their revenue/distribution? How might this impact Pac-12 negotiations? 

 

JC: "It was a distribution play by the ACC. It solved an ongoing visibility problem for that conference and will sprinkle a little revenue over the members. Everyone in America can get the CW. The network will broadcast 50 football and basketball games a year until 2026-27. Next season, the CW will air 13 football games, 28 men’s basketball games, and nine women’s basketball games. It will sweeten the revenue pot a little, but it was more of an exposure move."

 

"The dirty secret? We all know that the Pac-12 would have been mocked for doing the exact same deal."