Pac-12 Is Movin' On Up to the East Side...

[VectorVictor]

They're finally getting their piece of the pie:

 

Link to Matt's College Sports Media Blog

 

Of note:

 

What we (mostly) know:

* FSMG includes FOX broadcast network, F/X and FSN

* ESPN includes ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU. ESPN3.com for simulcasts.

* Football will air on all listed networks, though it is possible FSN will be dropped from the rotation. That should be confirmed at this morning's announcement

* FOX and ABC will air some games in primetime on the east coast (8pm ET / 5pm PT). Either five games total to be split among those two networks, or each will air five games.

* Basketball will be aired on the cable networks (FSN, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU). F/X may or may not be involved.

* For the football games airing on ESPN/ESPN2, four of those games can air on Thursdays and another four games can air on Fridays

* The two entities will split coverage of the major championships (football & men's basketball). FOX will air the football championship in even numbered years and FSMG will own the men's basketball championship in odd numbered years (sounds like F/X could air it). ABC airs the football championship in odd numbered years and ESPN airs the men's basketball championship in even numbered years

* ESPN gained rights to the women's basketball championship

* The conference held back some rights for their own use, be it for a TV network, digital & mobile offerings, etc. The rights are being pooled instead of being held for the schools to monetize on their own (ie. the opposite of the Big 12)

* ESPN will get a package of Olympic sports content to air

 

What we don't know

* Number of games that each network will have for football & men's basketball

* Who has selection priority

* Could ESPN3.com have exclusive games.

* Ability to sublicense to networks who are not rightsholders, such as Comcast or Turner Sports

* If there is network exclusivity (ie. FSMG can't televise at the same time as ESPN and vice-versa) and if the conference offerings have exclusivity

* If existing local rightsholder contracts, such as Comcast SportsNet Northwest with U. of Oregon and Root Sports Northwest with Washington St., have to honored or bought out.

 

 

This puts the Big XII firmly behind the B1G, SEC, and Pac-12. And while the ABC/ESPN part of the Big XII's contract is up in 2014/2015 (IIRC), the Pac-12 will have their network up and going, and those revenues don't have a ceiling and will be split by the conference.

 

So now that we've entered the next era of television progression in college football, it's becoming readily apparent that conferences with their own networks will prosper and reap enormous windfalls when they, as a whole conference, provide a quality product to watch year round.

 

The takeaway for Nebraska fans should be that:

 

1) poor-performing sports in the Big 10 *cough*BASEBALL*cough* will likely see their arcane scholarship laws removed and received a renewed focus on improving their product to help the bottom line, and

 

2) there is no way the Big XII will survive when all their immediate neighbors are major conferences that have their own networks and larger pieces of pie that are split equally, and

 

3) we're in an era where it's about ratings, baby. Nebraska can and does deliver the goods, and in order for our program to succeed, it should continue to lean (heavily) on its fanbase.