Tomorrow's Arizona-Oregon Pac-12 Championship game at Levi's Stadium "should be a taut, entertaining game worthy of a frenetic atmosphere and sold-out stadium," but that "isn't likely to be the case," according to Jon Wilner of the SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS. A crowd of 40,000-45,000 "is expected, and that's with decent weather." But the "forecast calls" for an 80% chance of rain. For a conference as "conscious of messaging and visuals as the Pac-12, the prospect of 25,000 empty seats on network television (Fox) must be a tad unsettling." Commissioner Larry Scott's "reasoning for moving the game from the home-host model to a neutral site for at least three years was all about Levi's: He wanted the league's marquee event to be associated with the state-of-the-art stadium, with the 49ers, with Silicon Valley." But "nobody anticipated the tepid reviews" for the stadium, as it "lacks atmosphere and has serious traffic and parking problems." The Pac-12 "hoped fans without loyalty to either participant would attend the game just to see the stadium." But the 49ers have "booked so many events ... that the non-NFL games have been cannibalized" (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 12/4). In Portland, Ken Goe wrote, "I'm guessing there will be fewer people actually in the stadium than the number announced as the official attendance." Nothing "illustrates college football's lurch away [from] people who buy tickets and toward those who watch on their favorite viewing platforms than the Pac-12 Championship Game." The game's "only practical benefits are for television programming and as an advertising vehicle" (OREGONLIVE.com, 12/3).
