Canzano torches Scott, Pac-12 hierarchy

I'll have to read Part 3 about the Pac-12 Network/DirecTV debacle. Lack of exposure/coverage certainly hurts the Pac-12 football teams compared to other Power 5 leagues.

But I'm not buying the recruiting disadvantage ... not when the talent-rich state of California lies smack dab in the middle of the conference.

 

I was just scrolling through today's TV listings and skipped right over it. Then I kept going through the sports section and saw a preview story. Shit, that game is today? Your Rose Bowl rep will be determined tonight. Larry Scott will probably use the corporate jet to fly him from SF to Santa Clara.

 

Are the Pac-12 offices still in Walnut Creek? I forgot to look when I was there in September. Might need a private helicopter from Buchanan Field to beat the traffic on 680.

 

One of the main points of this thread is that the Pac-12 is now wasting $millions on prime SF office space.
Set aside a couple of hours and read all 4 parts of this story. It's fascinating, appalling, aggravating. And it all ties in with the irrelevance of the Pac-12 championship game.

 

Wow. Just wow. That's amazing and scary, Chris. There is something about San Francisco that forces supposedly otherwise intelligent people to make incredibly stupid financial decisions there, dating all the way back to the Gold Rush of 1849. (Hello, Turner's purchase of Bleacher Report.) I get the allure. I don't see the ROI. Hell, the entire Bay Area is too damn pricey for what basically should be an office smaller than a travel agency. Stick it in Santa Rosa or Roseville, for crying out loud.

This smacks of the same "gotta be in the Mission District or SOMA because that's where dot.com is going to take off" mantra of 2000-2001, when everybody flocked to expensive rentals and burned through massive amounts of venture capital because ... San Francisco = hot spot for high tech. It worked really well that time, too. F***ed Company.com was my salve after being burned by Quokka.

I've never understood why some sports organizations feel the need to create in-house video networks, like NASCAR did when it took back streaming rights from Turner. TV people know how to do television. Leagues don't, because they can't hire enough institutional knowledge to compete. It's way cheaper to pay someone else to do it, or get someone to pay them for the rights.

 

The Pac-12 Network TV studios are also there. They are spending too much, but they also need something bigger than a travel-agency office.

 

Just finished Part 4. The whole thing is incredible. The former Utah AD nailed it. The chancellors and presidents, who are the only bosses Scott has, are too busy running their universities to look deeper into this. The ADs could do it, but they are subordinate to Scott.
During the summer, I ran into an old friend I'd lost contact with. He was in local TV production. We exchanged pleasantries and I asked where he was working. He said the Pac-12. I smirked and said something like, your boss is an idiot. He is ruining the conference. The football scheduling, DirecTV, etc. He begrudgingly nodded and said, the man in brilliant. But he is 5 years ahead of his time. What he is doing will be great in 5 years, but it isn't now. I'm sure that ties in to the 2024 time frame for the Pac-12 Networks. The conference won't be dead, but I think their network will be sooner rather than later.

 

From the article:
Scott has brought vision to the conference headquarters. It operated as a "Mom and Pop" shop under former commissioner Tom Hansen. Scott engineered the formation of the Pac-12 Networks. He pushed for deeper relationships with technology companies. And he's positioned the Pac-12 for a potential payday in 2024 when its digital and broadcast rights are available for bid.

It raises a question: Would the Pac-12 ever sell its prized television network?

One executive-level insider believes it's the only path out of the woods for the conference. Giving up control of the network and selling to AT&T, Verizon, Facebook or Amazon might result in a Pac-12 payday that would level the playing field.

Why on earth will there be some great demand in 2024? Is there some bubbling undercurrent for Cal-Stanford water polo going on?

 

That was sort of my point. Why did the Pac-12 go that route in the first place?

After watching NASCAR trip on its own d*** since 2012, I understand why leagues want to run their own networks, mainly because you have total control of the product and don't share the revenue. But on the flip side, you have the additional cost of manpower, infrastructure and equipment that needs updating and repairs. On top of that, you decide to need that space in arguably the most expensive location per square foot in the country, without proving that there's any benefit.

How will the audience consume content in five years? If the past five years is any indication, it'll be in a way that hasn't even been invented. If Scott knows the answer to that question, he's brighter than everybody else in the room. And he's betting that someone will still be paying top dollar for that content, which is a fool's errand given the good chance of a major downturn in the economy between now and then.

 

Now entering the Shark Tank, Larry Scott!

Want to buy a stake in the Pac-12 Conference? It’s exploring taking on private equity partners.

 

PAC-12 Prime Time Beach Volleyball. Ratings gold