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Texas, Which Is Interested In Own Network,
Did Not Take Part In Talks With Learfield |
Eight ADs from the Big 12 Conference met with Learfield Sports on Friday to "discuss forming their own cable network," according to Dennis Dodd of CBSSPORTS.com. The ADs from Colorado, Iowa State, Kansas State, Missouri, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M and Texas Tech were part of the discussions about the net, which is "not related to any conference shifting, but is seen as a new revenue stream." Texas A&M AD Bill Byrne, who has "talked and tweeted about the meeting publicly," said of the net, "It's something I'm quite interested in. ... It's something that our fans are going to be demanding sooner rather than later." Dodd reported experts have indicated that the success of a college sports cable net is dependent on the "number of football and men's basketball games it can broadcast." Fox, ESPN and ABC "own those Big 12 rights," but Byrne said that there "could be some flexibility in new negotiations." Dodd noted it "wasn't immediately clear what Colorado was doing at the meeting if it is soon leaving the league." Texas' rights "are not handled by Learfield," and the school has "made it clear it wants to develop its own channel or network" (CBSSPORTS.com, 8/20).
FORMULATING A PLAN: Pac-10 Commissioner Larry Scott said CAA, which the conference hired to advise on its TV rights, has a "media advisory group really expert on advertising and TV negotiations." Scott: "They've got some folks that have particular expertise in devising business plans for networks. ... That's something we're seriously looking at and exploring. We're going to have a business plan for a Pac-12 Network. Whether we do it or not will depend on our negotiations, but we'll be ready to do it." Scott added the launch of the Big Ten Network and the SEC's deals with CBS and ESPN "essentially was the wake-up call" for the conference. Scott said of the Pac-10, "They developed a pretty bold ambition of what they wanted the conference to be. And that's what they presented to me when I was being recruited" (L.A. TIMES, 8/22).
SLIPPERY SLOPE: In Utah, Dick Harmon wrote the loss of Utah and the possible loss of BYU "would be a major blow" to the Mountain West Conference's network, The mtn. The two schools "clearly have been the biggest audience draw," and the net in the past few years has "featured a lot of Utah-based advertising." San Diego, Las Vegas and Denver "should pull big numbers for MWC network, but they just do not," and though the conference is adding Fresno State and Nevada, there is "no evidence the Fresno, Calif., or Reno, Nev., markets would be any different than San Diego or Las Vegas" (DESERET NEWS, 8/22).
