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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Pac-12 simply a tougher sell

Larry Scott doesn’t have the hottest product, but still got big money for Pac-12. (Associated Press)

Thursday: I ran across a piece by Jon Wilner this morning  listing the media markets that have the highest ratings for college football games. As one might suspect, the top market is in Alabama and the top seven are all in the South.

The top market in what would be considered a Northern state? Columbus, Ohio, home to Ohio State University. What is quite funny, however, is the top market west of the Rockies. That would be Salt Lake City, tied for 13th.

I guess it isn’t all that funny, however, as there are two FBS schools in the Basin and both have a pretty rabid following. “Rabid,” however, by non-Southern standards.

Portland came in at No. 17 and that’s about it for the West in the top 20 markets. (Las Vegas tied with Portland but that has to be explained by folks checking on their wagers, doesn’t it?)

So what does that say about the college football television landscape? Well, it explains why ESPN is willing to spend billions on SEC football. The giant in broadcast sports wouldn’t be the giant if it didn’t control that aspect of college athletics. And it means a lot of money – more eyes, more advertisers – for the network.

But there is a converse here. Why the heck did ESPN and Fox spend so much money on the Pac-12? It doesn’t seem as if they are getting their return on the investment, at least in viewership. I’m sure there is more to it than this, but I’m willing to believe Larry Scott just may be able to sell a Trane furnace to a guy in Dubai.

That’s one explanation. But there are others. Maybe Scott is the world’s best salesman or maybe, and this is the cynic in me coming out, he was able to get so much money for a product that doesn’t draw all that well because he was willing to sell out the conference’s in-stadium fans.

To maximize the dollars, he allowed the networks more leeway in scheduling than the SEC or Big Ten gave up. He gave them the opportunity to fill in some scheduling blanks. Instead of taking $100 million less – and having one fewer floor on every new football ops building in the conference – he wrung the last nickel out of the package.

The SEC didn’t have to do that. The conference can point at Birmingham and New Orleans and Knoxville and Memphis and Atlanta and dictate what it wants. That’s like holding three kings and two queens in a poker game. No bluffing needed. And, when the cards are put on the table, you get to rake in the pot.

Scott had a pair of sevens and still cashed in. To do it, he just had to hock all of our fall evenings. Fair or not, that’s up to you to decide. It was the hand he was dealt.

Tuesday: If you are a college basketball fan, you already knew about Texas Southern and its road schedule courtesy of the Marquis de Sade. 

When the Tigers opened the season, they did so in the early morning hours at Eastern Washington. They lost, 88-62. It was the beginning of 15 road games – in 16 contests – to begin the season. We wrote about it then, how awful it is for a school to balance its athletic budget on the backs of 15 basketball players, playing road guarantee games against the likes of Indiana, Tennessee, Baylor, Florida, Michigan State, Auburn and on and on and on to ensure the track team has cleats.

But such is the life in the Southwestern Athletic Conference, Texas Southern’s home. No one has a winning record. Alabama State, which has three wins, more than any of the other nine teams in the conference, has played at Utah and Arkansas. The Hornets have been at home four times. That’s probably the easiest nonconference schedule in the league.

The 10 teams have played a total of 15 home games. Arkansas-Pine Bluff has yet to play on its home court. Those who have been able to get home rarely play a Division I school. No wonder the SWAC nonconference record is 14-73.

Is this the right thing to do for the students who play basketball at these schools?