cartm25 No. 1 Share Posted February 23, 2023 I've gone back and forth about where I want the Ducks to end up: P-12 or B1G, or elsewhere (ACC / B12). Timeline of my Preferences: - When the B1G swiped USC and UCLA, I was envious and wanted the Ducks involved, too. - When the expanded playoff was announced I wanted the P-10 to stay together . . . under the assumption a reasonable media rights deal would eventually happen. - Now that the P-12's last hope appears to be streaming-only games on Apple TV+, I want the Ducks to bolt; to the B1G or SEC. Either one, I don't care. I honestly might prefer the Ducks be in the B12 if they somehow got the 4-corner teams as well. After all the back and forth, rumors, highs and lows, hopes and failures; still some hope? . . . With slumped shoulders I've concluded: ** I want the Ducks to be in a Conference with a geographic footprint where there's a much higher percentage of people that love college football; football in general. ** This isn't meant to be an insult to fans on the West Coast . . . I live here. I don't believe a passionate fan from the South is any more/less passionate than a passionate fan from the West Coast. BUT, I do believe there's a much higher percentage of passionate fans in the South / Mid-West relative to the regional population there than in WA/OR/CA. Some viewership data that bares this out: - Alabama v. Arkansas / Combined State Population: ~8M / Game Viewership: 5.83M - tOSU v. Maryland / Combined State Population: ~18M / Game Viewership: 6.60M - Alabama v. Ole Miss / Combined State Population: ~8M / Game Viewership: 8.71M - Florida v. Florida St. / State Population: ~22M / Game Viewership: 6.71M / **In-state rivalry; Nothing to play for (i.e., Conf. Champ. or CFP); No nationally relevant player - USC v. UCLA / State Population: ~39M / Game Viewership: 4.53M / **In-state rivalry; Conf. Champ. & CFP hopes; Leading Heisman candidate - USC v. Utah / Combined State Population: ~42M / Game Viewership: 5.97M / **P12 Champ; CFP if USC wins; Leading Heisman candidate; Wild reg.-season game When I think of college football, my mind immediately goes to the South (SEC), then to the Mid-West (B1G), and then to our wonderful pocket of college towns here in the PNW. I do NOT think of Silicon Valley (i.e., Apple TV+) To put a bow on this, I'll say it one more time: I want the Ducks to be in a Conference, in a geography where a higher percentage of people LOVE the game of football. 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kirklandduck Moderator No. 2 Share Posted February 23, 2023 Admittedly I'm a little more traditionalist when it comes to the Pac12 and so would rather Oregon remain there. I think if whatever media contract gets finalized, if it's within the ballpark of Big12 payouts (between 28 and 32 million) then it's fine. But I do agree with others that the Pac12 needs to evolve and by that I mean expand....aggressively. As it stands right now, I would put the Pac12 at #4 of the 5 power conferences between the Big12 and ACC. California is still an enormously rich recruiting area but the conference absolutely needs to expand its footprint to Texas, which is why I'm on board with pulling in SMU. Oregon's 2023 recruiting class has the highest percentage of Texas recruits in the program's history so far and I would like to see that continue. So having a home-and-home with a Dallas-based team can only be a benefit to both the Ducks and the conference in that regard. Yes I know SMU as it stands currently doesn't pull much local viewership since it competes with multiple professional and other college teams in the area. But you can bet that those media numbers instantly improve with teams like Oregon and Washington visiting at least every other year. Not to mention the possibility of expanding to other available teams in the area after the conference gains a stable foothold in DFW. The Big12 understood early on that expansion is survival which is why they pulled in BYU, Cincy, etc. They're better off as a 14 team league with 4 mid-majors replacing the two big powers than being a milquetoast 10 member organization. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyToBeADuck No. 3 Share Posted February 23, 2023 Just curious. Did ESPN back out of their $300 million dollar offer? I cant find anything...... If not why are we having comnents about APPLE+ being the only place we can find the PAC? Is there an article that supports that APPLE+ is the only bidder? If ESPN is still on board, then take less money and stay put. If APPLE+ plus is the only bidder then the PAC is finished. Where to land? Who knows! PK should purchase the PAC Network. Settle the dust with Direct TV and become visible in 40 plus million homes. Whatrmever the fees and costs, well advertisers will pay the load. Expand into Texas for 3 reasons: Replace the 24 games lost to the 2 trairors. Midwest broadcasts Recruiting footprint OBD's need only to survive until the next round of expansion. When they leave the PAC will fracture. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
noDucknewby No. 4 Share Posted February 23, 2023 (edited) Best case for us we go to the B1G. I don't like it, but for long-term stability and access to the CFP I still think it's our best option. Worst case would be an Apple TV all streaming deal. I'm on board with some streaming, preferably Amazon but Apple TV? That may work for millennnial hipsters watching futbol, it'd be a deathblow for P12 football. An acceptable scenario would be a short-term TV deal somewhere around what the B12 is getting, mostly linear, some streaming, perhaps 50/50. Edited February 23, 2023 by noDucknewby 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Kamikaze Kid Moderator No. 5 Share Posted February 23, 2023 I'd like to see movement towards an entirely new conference set to start up at the end of the B12 media contract. By starting from scratch, this new conference could have representation in all the major pacific coast cities from the Pac and all the Texas schools from the B12. Next, include the other main players from the Pac and B12 (Utah, Ok St, BYU) and possibly some footprint expanding schools (Tulane, Cincinnati). The current Pac leadership collectively always seem to be at least couple steps behind and never seeming to grasp the gravity of the situation. I'd have far more faith in a new group of schools actually working together keep up with what's required to do to remain nationally relevant. 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
OceaniaDuck No. 6 Share Posted February 23, 2023 I want the Ducks to remain in the PAC-10. Sure, it seems there are greener pastures moving over to the B1G, but that conference is too crowded already, diluting the Ducks chances of making it to the CFP given the new format. Just finalize the best media rights deals we have already and run with it. Who knows? We may even stumble into becoming innovators of watching college football primarily on a new format. Also, for Kliavkoff to make a last ditch effort to keep USC and UCLA in the conference. Bring all AD's to the table. Have uneven revenue distributions if necessary to keep everybody happy. Additionally, still continue with plans to add SDSU to conference and possibly Fresno State. Not a big fan of SMU joining. As I said in other posts, winning cures everything. If PAC teams (minus USC and UCLA) win at least better than half the OOC games that matter, we will start to be respected as a conference again. In USC's heyday under Pete Carroll, the halo effect really generated interest in the conference. Call me a conspiracy theorist, but IMHO, that NCAA investigation into the so-called Reggie Bush scandal was bogus. At the time, the NCAA was full of SEC homeboys and Paul Dee, lead investigator from the University of Miami, was also in charge of one of the dirtiest programs in college football at the time. I actually did read the report, and everything sounded like trumped up baloney. I don't think other conferences liked that USC was dominating and did what they did to bring the program down. IMHO, the investigation had nothing to do with the spirit of adhering to the regulations, but more so to destroy the USC football program, which in turn brought the conference down. Anyways, to reiterate my answer, Oregon, along with Washington are better off staying put and becoming the new leading flag-bearers for the conference. Yes, like it or not, USC and to some extent UCLA were flag-bearers for the PAC-12, but to paraphrase Coach Carter, I guess we just need new leading flag-bearers. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyToBeADuck No. 7 Share Posted February 24, 2023 I really think that GK and the PAC Presidents could do a better job of informing their loyal fans. The Unity Letter was vague because all it said was the 10 teams are united and working together. My answer to that is 2 fold: Well i would hope you would be united and sticking together. All the good ships have sailed and none of you were on them! What are you united and sticking together for? And dont say the best media deal available. What is the conference short term, meduim term and long term goal? What does the conference want to look like in 5 years, 10 years, etc? GK can share the goals and vision without exposing critical information to suitors or competitors. I find it laughable that the BIG 12 can add 4 Group of 5 schools and its a stroke of genius! And when the PAC wants to add 2 G5 schools its a,sign of weakness.. Gk, pick the markets that make sense for media rights and expand. Get PK and his mega money friends to financially invest in the conference to heighthen the brand. Create a partnership that makes business sense. $120 million annually from Pk and business partners would bring each school $10 million a year above the media deal. Each school could invest in their athletic departments. Better coaching salaries, etc.... With some form of return on their annual investments. Naming righrs, free tuition for generations wtc. Its a new world when 2 conferences can purposely destroy 2 other conferences. Time for a new plan from those with smarts and money to help those who were purposely damaged. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
2002duck No. 8 Share Posted February 24, 2023 On 2/23/2023 at 2:38 PM, cartm25 said: streaming I think the ideal plan for GK & the Pac is to move all of the games that were aired on the PAC-12 Network to Amazon or Apple. GK has been crystal clear that whatever happens there will be streaming, because hardly anybody can watch the Pac-12 Network games. It appears that Amazon has inferred that they only want the big games (the ones that are currently on ESPN, ABC, and FS1), and do not want to pay for the rights for the crappy games. This is a problem, because the PAC-12 wants the opposite (obviously), and wants the big games on regular TV and the crap games streamed. So, I'm guessing that's why AppleTV is getting talked about- because Amazon is turning out to be a bust. I'm not sure what to do about the PAC-12 network- I suppose the league could see if they could charge Comcast half of what they pay now, and get DirectTV/Dish to pay the same??? So we'd be getting the same money but more viewers??? I'm very much against streaming. Also, I'm not even mad at USC or UCLA for bolting to the B1G- I'm just jealous we didn't get invited at the same time. If the B1G told us to keep a secret, and we bolted with USC instead of UCLA I would have been ecstatic. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tandaian No. 9 Share Posted February 24, 2023 The four B12 teams are bigger and better than teams P12 is looking at, for football. I think SDST is the only school the P12 should bring in. They are the only school that are a net positive or at least not a negative day 1. TV Numbers (2022) for B12 expansion teams: UCF 510K Cincy 653K Houston 242K BYU 997K Undergraduate: UCF 58,749 Cincy 28,910 Houston 37,689 BYU 31,633 Stadium Capacity UCF 45,323 Cincy 40,000 Houston 40,000 BYU 63,725 Pac 12 expansion teams SDST 198K - 33,778 - 35,000 SMU 164K - 6908 - 32,000 Tulane 354K - 14,669 - 30,000 UTSA N/A - 7,320 - 72,000 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Moderator No. 10 Share Posted February 24, 2023 I am a Yankee living 'down south' in Aiken, SC. Spot on regarding the football fervor in the south and the SEC. Huge stadiums by Pac-12 standards, including the 90,000-seat stadium in Columbia, SC routinely sell out for bottom-of-the-barrel teams.The only exception is Vanderbilt but that stadium is often filled to capacity with visiting fans. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haywarduck No. 11 Share Posted February 24, 2023 What do I want for the Ducks... Otherwise there doesn't seem to be too many good answers. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
