UT and OU Reaching Out to Join SEC

In Austin, it's only DirecTV and AT&T UVerse, which very few people have. Not available on Spectrum (the main one), Grande, Google Fiber, or any of the streaming companies (Youtube TV, etc).

Whenever that whole CSN-H debacle happened, the Astros largely ceded Austin to the Rangers. I only can see games through ... unofficial streaming options.

 

Fubo TV still has it, right? That's what I used last season in Austin.

 

Sorry but that's not true. Looking at their schedule, Stanford had 8 National TV games last season, 3 on PAC Network, and 1 that I think was truly unavailable. Won't go through the rest of the conference but majority of PAC games were available nationwide. No network is going to give a deal that makes their teams widely unavailable to majority of the country. @Major is right in that they are typically relegated to really bad time slots, but the availability is there.

Here is a pretty straight forward list of the avg number of viewers each week by program. The PAC is about to lose 2 of their top 3 most watched teams. Their 4th and 5th are Utah (#33) and Washington (#34), sandwiched right in between Illinois and Northwestern.

1. Ohio State — 5.80M
2. Alabama — 5.11M
3. Michigan — 4.37M
4. Tennessee — 4.13M
5. Georgia — 3.50M
6. Notre Dame — 3.30M
7. LSU — 3.22M
8. Texas — 3.06M
9. Penn State — 3.05M
10. Clemson — 2.59M
11. Florida — 2.57M
12. Oregon — 2.21M
13. TCU — 2.20M
14. Southern Cal — 2.07M
15. Florida State — 2.03M
16. Nebraska — 1.98M
17. Michigan State — 1.91M
18. Texas A&M — 1.87M
19. Maryland — 1.864M
20. Auburn — 1.863M
21. Arkansas — 1.80M
22. Mississippi — 1.753M
23. Oklahoma — 1.748M
24. Oklahoma State — 1.68M
25. UCLA — 1.591M

 

And yet this is what UCLA looks like on gameday.

 

I think times have changed significantly more than the NBA or NCAA realize. Younger people have become much more a la carte and they won't watch what they're not interested in. We are far removed from a time when the powers that be would force you to watch certain players and focus on certain things. With the rise of the various social platforms people are now knowledgeable about other things (like other players and teams). I mean...that's how I am. I want to watch the players and teams I'm interested in and don't want to watch the players and teams I don't. They can adapt or die. I've watched maybe one or two TNT games this year and I actually *like* basketball. I just dont want to watch the Lakers or the Celtics or whatever forced BS Silver thinks I need.

Again....I now watch Premier League every week simply because of accessibility. Soccer is doing it the right way and will begin to eat away at these other leagues that are forcing people onto obsolete services like cable. My brother will text me "Yo Leeds vs West Ham is a banger right now" and I'll immediately tune in. I haven't watched an NFL game in years. Astros I watch only in the playoffs. Rockets I'm dedicated enough to stream on shady sites.

 

I've always used Nord, and I think, iirc, I'm located somewhere in the Dakotas

 

But you can sure get Bally Sports out of Dallas....

oops

https://www.sportico.com/business/media/2023/bally-sports-rsn-bankruptcy-1234709444/

 

The numbers simply don’t back any of that up.
You say we are far removed from being forced to watch certain players/teams yet SNF/MNF ratings are all at record highs and consistently the most watched sporting events week after week. The only NFL game that has seen a ratings drop is the one only accessible via streaming. The CFP also its best ratings since its inception too.

I have no doubt that streaming will gain popularity but in terms of American sports, it is still Network or bust right now. For purposes of the PAC and this thread, that is what really matters.

 

What do you mean be “free”? I’m not aware of a free option to watch the games.

 

I consider Network TV + ESPN “free” since current viewers are watching it on those channels whether paying for it or not. But isn’t Network TV still free?

 

lol. mhver3.

 

Know of him? I never have but looks like he called the USC/UCLA move to B1G pretty early on.

 

He's notorious for throwing anything and everything at the wall. Famous for getting attention, not for being connected.

 

He's Burt Steele's cousin. Twice removed.

 

If I'm the PAC I slice off a piece of my inventory for linear cable's 4th timeslot and the rest of it I sell to Apple.

Nobody watches PAC during the day anyway, embrace the 'after dark' model.

You should be able to get Apple to overpay, and if you play your cards right you should also be able to demand a premium for that 4th time window inventory you will sell to cable.

The exposure boat has sailed. It's time to go for the cash prize...

If you can finish this deal and have these two things to boast about you will have made lemonade out of lemons:

1) We make the 3rd most revenue behind the SEC/B1G
2) We're the 'hip/cool' conference pioneering streaming with a brand like Apple

It's not a great play, but it's the only one you have.

 

According to Texas AD:

Del Conte was asked about how much it cost to leave the Big 12 early. Was it really $100 million and was it split equally between Texas and Oklahoma?

“Our distribution from the Big 12 that we were going to receive in 2024 is going to stay with the Big 12,” Del Conte explained. “Obviously we’ll be getting a new distribution moving forward when we joined the SEC.”

If this is the full extent, it seems that UT/OU only forfeited their distribution for the upcoming 2023-2024 season?