Menu
Media

Washington Football Coach Petersen Unhappy With Late Starts Over Conference TV Deal

Late kickoffs are the "new normal" in the Pac-12, and six years into its media-rights deal with ESPN and Fox, the "challenges for just about everyone involved seem as painful as ever," according to Adam Jude of the SEATTLE TIMES. Washington football coach Chris Petersen said that it is "painful" having back-to-back 7:45pm PT start times over the next two Saturdays. Petersen: "I just want to say something to our fans: We apologize for these late games. And I’d also like to reiterate it has nothing to do with us or the administration. We want to play at 1 o’clock. It hurts us tremendously in terms of national exposure. No one wants to watch our game on the East Coast that late, and we all know it. We haven’t had a kickoff before 5 o’clock this season. And so it’s painful for our team, it’s painful for our administration and we know certainly the most important part is for our fans." Jude notes this is what the Pac-12 and its member schools "signed up for when they sold their TV rights." But what is good for a TV audience can be "challenging for fans having to work through the logistics of attending a late game." Petersen said, "We already know everything and so much of this and what we do comes down to money. TV contracts are big. They tell us when to play." He added, "I don’t [think] they even kind of care about my voice, or probably any of the coaches’ voices. I don’t think there is one coach out there, or probably school in the West that wants to play our games at late night. ... It is really frustrating to everybody in the West" (SEATTLE TIMES, 10/3). In Tacoma, Todd Milles notes this "seems to be a common bellyaching over the years among Pac-12 coaches whose teams have played a string of night games." But it "hasn't really happened much" during Petersen’s tenure, as UW has kicked off at 4:00pm or earlier in 20 of its 41 games since Petersen arrived (Tacoma NEWS TRIBUNE, 10/3). ESPN's Adam Rittenberg tweeted "Kudos to Chris Petersen for speaking out. No one sees Washington. I ripped Pac-12 scheduling on today's podcast." Detroit Free Press' Ryan Ford: "Just wait till the PAC-12 starts scheduling his games against Top-5 opponents on a Friday night." Bleacher Report's Brian Pedersen: "If Washington plays at 2 or 3 p.m. ET no one will watch because so many other games will be on."

BAD FOR THE BRAND? YAHOO SPORTS' Forde & Thamel noted Washington State is out to a 5-0 start, and it is "worth asking if the late kickoffs have hurt" the school’s bid for national attention. WSU’s win over Boise State ended at 2:42am ET, and its win over USC on Friday night ended at 2:10am ET. WSU's "two marquee games this season lasted past last call in most towns on the East Coast." Games have been "reduced to inventory and television windows are chosen to optimize network cash." But "when do these late kicks offer diminishing returns?" Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott said, "We don’t live in a perfect world. We’d all love to get all the value and benefits of our television partners, and we could choose the time that we play. We’re not in that situation." Scott "pointed to two programs" reaching the CFP in the past three seasons and former Oregon QB Marcus Mariota’s Heisman Trophy as "signs the late kicks haven’t hurt the league." Scott: "We’re very, very valuable to our broadcast partners, when we’re able to kick after seven (Pacific Time). There’s no other major conferences who play at that hour" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 10/1).

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2017/10/03/Media/Pac-12.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2017/10/03/Media/Pac-12.aspx

CLOSE