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After years of streaming challenges, could Pac-12 football find a home on a streaming platform?
DerekJohnson
Administrator, Swaye's Wigwam Posts: 59,957
From Stewart Mandell
With Apple likely winning the NFL Sunday Ticket package, does that likely make Amazon more aggressive trying to land a college football deal? The Pac-12 deal will be up soon and Saturdays would be ideal to add to the live streaming options.
Mike B.
We’re starting to see these streaming services’ sports strategies come into focus, and Amazon’s seems to be: Invest in big brands with the largest audiences. NFL. Premier League. The New York Yankees. If it decides to get into college football, I don’t think it would be for the Pac-12, which doesn’t draw particularly large audiences within its own sport on regular linear television.
Apple getting both the new MLB Friday night package and now Sunday Ticket seems more relevant because just a couple years ago, that same company actually tried to acquire the Pac-12’s rights come 2024. I was told at the time those talks didn’t get very far because Apple was only interested if it could get the conference’s best games (its Tier 1 rights), not some secondary deal akin to the current Pac-12 Networks lineup, and the conference wasn’t willing to go there. Which is understandable. As of last September, Apple TV+ had fewer than 20 million subscribers, which pales in comparison to ESPN on cable (76 million), much less Amazon (200 million).
(Note: If you don’t have Apple TV+ you are missing out on “Severance,” a show so gripping and suspenseful I sacrificed sleep the other night because I literally could not turn it off before seeing the finale.)
But that was before Apple’s new sports deals. Would the league be willing to reconsider shifting some of its better games to a streaming service if they offer considerably more money than a traditional network? That will likely be the fundamental question George Kliavkoff will have to answer very soon. Because while ESPN/FOX/NBC/CBS still offer the most exposure, it’s not realistic they will throw Big Ten/SEC money at the less-watched Pac-12. What’s more important to its members: Revenue or exposure?
With Apple likely winning the NFL Sunday Ticket package, does that likely make Amazon more aggressive trying to land a college football deal? The Pac-12 deal will be up soon and Saturdays would be ideal to add to the live streaming options.
Mike B.
We’re starting to see these streaming services’ sports strategies come into focus, and Amazon’s seems to be: Invest in big brands with the largest audiences. NFL. Premier League. The New York Yankees. If it decides to get into college football, I don’t think it would be for the Pac-12, which doesn’t draw particularly large audiences within its own sport on regular linear television.
Apple getting both the new MLB Friday night package and now Sunday Ticket seems more relevant because just a couple years ago, that same company actually tried to acquire the Pac-12’s rights come 2024. I was told at the time those talks didn’t get very far because Apple was only interested if it could get the conference’s best games (its Tier 1 rights), not some secondary deal akin to the current Pac-12 Networks lineup, and the conference wasn’t willing to go there. Which is understandable. As of last September, Apple TV+ had fewer than 20 million subscribers, which pales in comparison to ESPN on cable (76 million), much less Amazon (200 million).
(Note: If you don’t have Apple TV+ you are missing out on “Severance,” a show so gripping and suspenseful I sacrificed sleep the other night because I literally could not turn it off before seeing the finale.)
But that was before Apple’s new sports deals. Would the league be willing to reconsider shifting some of its better games to a streaming service if they offer considerably more money than a traditional network? That will likely be the fundamental question George Kliavkoff will have to answer very soon. Because while ESPN/FOX/NBC/CBS still offer the most exposure, it’s not realistic they will throw Big Ten/SEC money at the less-watched Pac-12. What’s more important to its members: Revenue or exposure?
Comments
Pac 12 network will shrivel into streaming olympic sports on their app only.