I'm going to post this link without comment because I'm sleepy and am going to bed. Looking for comments and intelligent observations (good luck, eh?). I will post my incredibly insightful, probably witty, and no doubt profound far-seeing comments in a day or two.

How new Pac-12 exec plans to turn Pac-12 Networks into profit source​

Jon Wilner
May 16, 2024 at 8:00 am Updated May 16, 2024 at 8:00 am
The Pac-12 Networks will broadcast their final live event later this month and cease to exist as a media distribution company at the end of June. But the engineers, cutting-edge technology and production facility will remain in place under a new executive.

The conference has appointed Michael Molinari the senior vice president for business development and studio operations for Pac-12 Enterprises.

Essentially, he’s the general manager of content production, charged with turning what remains into a source of profit and leverage — everything the Pac-12 Networks were not.

“Michael brings a wealth of knowledge and high level of respect from across the sports broadcasting landscape to lead our new production services business with Pac-12 Enterprises,” Commissioner Teresa Gould said in a statement released early Wednesday morning.

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“We are excited for his leadership in bringing these offerings to market and helping us realize our vision for this extraordinary facility.”

First question: What are Pac-12 Enterprises?

Simply put, it’s the conference’s media production arm — the guts of the broader operation that was the Pac-12 Networks — and it’s located in a massive office in a business park in San Ramon, Calif.

Molinari knows the facility and the engineers well, having served as the Pac-12 Networks’ lead producer for football and men’s basketball broadcasts for more than a decade. (His previous stops include ESPN and the Big Ten Network.)

Molinari and Gould are planning to take the production services “external” and identify “new and prospective clients to utilize [the] full suite of production capabilities,” according to the conference.

The production facility includes:

• More than 2,000 square feet of “acoustically-tuned stage space and insert studios.”
• Nine broadcast control rooms.
• The infrastructure and connectivity “to produce live events anywhere in the world.”

The facility will produce two buckets of live events for Washington State and Oregon State in the upcoming competition year.

Earlier this week, the “Pac-2” schools announced a media rights agreement with The CW and Fox to broadcast their 13 home football games. Fox has its own production team, but The CW does not. Pac-12 Enterprises will handle production for those 11 games.

The second bucket encompasses everything else.

For the next two years, the Cougars and Beavers will be affiliate members of the West Coast Conference in basketball and other Olympic sports.

The WCC has an exclusive agreement with ESPN+ to broadcast more than 900 live events.

Pac-12 Enterprises will handle the task for the Cougars and Beavers.

But there’s room for more business, and that’s where Molinari comes in.

He’ll attempt to not only find clients — Apple and Amazon, for example, outsource production of their live sports broadcasts — but also turn Pac-12 Enterprises into a piece of leverage for the next round of realignment.

If WSU and OSU decide to rebuild the conference in time for the 2026 football season, they will need a media rights agreement.

That agreement will include a streaming component (ESPN+, Amazon, Apple, etc.), but building on-campus production facilities to meet digital media demands is a costly undertaking.

The Pac-12’s infrastructure would limit the scope of any campus build-out, potentially making the conference more attractive to both new members and new media partners.

It’s bold thinking, for sure, and it might become a lost cause. Nobody knows what options will exist for Washington State and Oregon State in 12 or 18 months.

But they need to be ready, and Pac-12 Enterprises is an important piece of the preparation.

Jon Wilner: jwilner@bayareanewsgroup.com

The Allmighty Loyal One multitasking again.

Michigan to allow alcohol sales in 2024. The ESPN article says that 55 of 69 Power 5 teams sold alcohol in public areas last season. So where is WSU and wunderchild Anne McCoy with this languishing move? And do the mutts sell alcohol?

CC's 3 day Spring meeting wrapped up, and topics (link below) included a robust discussion of expansion out West, including the West Coast Pod concept. Oops typo. Nothing of either topic was reported to have had any discussion whatsoever.

A brandx poster posted about Okafor a few days ago saying he committed (and 2 other as well). Apparently now official. He was injured last year after 9 games. PF/C at 6'9" 235. Not much offense. Rim protector, defense, and boards.

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Hey all Great News, I finally found a RV in Spokane, that I can afford. I have 6k in bank, and RV cost $5000.

It was on a Craigslist ad.

The back end, edge where end, side meet has slight warping of fiberglass, and Lamination fading, peeling.

And there is a slight leak on top of the Slide out. He says I can either fix it, or have slide out, slid in to avoid leaking.

He was upfront, honest in ZOOMED in photos of the slight problem areas.

I once owned a 79, 40 ft 5th Wheel that had leaky roof, that I fixed by getting cans of sealant paint, and painted, sealed whole roof. I sold it for $850, paid $500.

I'll have 1300 left over in bank, after taking out, if I take out $5000 to buy the RV. I have a place to park it, either in my unused apt parking spot, or at friend from church who said I can park it there, in exchange for them being able to use it for their family reunion.

So in about 3 to 9 days after the guy gets over his cold, a friend of mine who knows a lot about RV's, is going to give me a ride to bank, get a contingent $5000, then inspect the RV, then if still want it, immediately buy it, immediately give him the money, fill out the title transfer paperwork, immediately hitch it up behind friends truck, tow it to either my parking spot, or friends place that lives near Ford, then try to fix leak, throw RV cover, protector over it, continue to save for months, then either pay a company to ship it down there, then catch a plane down there, or pay a friend about $1000 to take me, trailer, my stuff, to RV park, down there, park me, drop me off.

I'm doing it that way, so that another buyer, doesn't swoop in and buy it out from underneath me. I don't want to take a bus, inspect it, then arrange to buy it another day, and then find out that somebody else bought it. This way hopefully that won't happen.

Also I'll have to find insurance, pay for minor repairs, continue to save, etc.

If everything works, etc, then $5000 is a great deal for it, as no RV that cheap is perfect.

He says he wants to upgrade, and needs money for medical bills, so he wants to quick sell it, and hopefully help another person enjoy it as much as he has.

I hope it's worth getting when I inspect it, and that I am able to get it.

The pictures of it look pretty nice, on both outside, inside, except for the 2 problem areas from up close, but further back, can't easily tell, see, don't notice the 2 problem areas, etc, at least according to what I see in pictures, and he was very honest in both pictures, and what he told me, as he said the Reason why showed the 2 problem areas, in pictures, etc, is that he wants buyers to know what they are getting.

The reason I am posting this, is because a couple, few, some here(Loyal, etc), don't think that WSU, OSU, PAC 2, would, will join the ACC, B12, or do a best of G5, coast to coast conference, or merge with ACC, etc, and that it's BS, Hogwash, haven't seen it anywhere, etc.


What they don't get is that this smoke, rumors, etc, has been all over the internet, twitter, Instagram, streams, podcast, and that semi credible, credible, semi non credible sources alike, some of these are Canzano, Wilner, Greg Swaime, Jim Williams, Various LOCKED ON streams, etc, have either at least semi credible semi professional opinions, rumors, insider reports, sources, logic, reason, facts, extrapolation, analysis, projection, etc.

Just because a couple, few, some here(Loyal), haven't heard, found these and other sources, doesn't mean these things won't happen. Where there is Smoke, there can OFTEN BE FIRE.

Before the PAC 12 disintegrated, there were all kinds of unsubstantiated rumors, etc, flying around, and 1,2,3,etc, around here said it wouldn't, couldn't happen, that they hadn't seen, found stuff about it, until others posted the sources.

If some(Loyal, others, etc), continue to dispute, I'm sure that between all of us we could spam, post a flood of links, copy, paste, etc, to podcast, websites, articles, stories, columns, streams, etc, hundreds of various sources, etc, if we wanted to waste our time doing so.

I just happened to accidentally stumble into this, these sources.

I didn't have time to try to figure out how to share the link to the article, but I did copy, paste directly from the article the portion that applies.

Here is the copy, paste.


"Longtime college football radio host Greg Swaim hinted that the Big 12 can come calling with invites for the Pac-2 at some point.

"Good news coming soon for those of us who believe that (Oregon State) and (Wazzu) belong in the Big 12," tweeted Swaim.

Meanwile, PressBox DC's Jim Williams reported that the ACC would look to include Oregon State and Wazzu in a contingency plan with Memphis, Tulane, USF, and UConn if/when FSU, Clemson, UNC, and Louisville leave. With that said, whether or not the ACC would remain a Power conference in this situation is up for debate."

Talk about closing the barn door after the horses get out.

I wouldn't call it a 'deal".​

WSU, Oregon State land TV deal for home football games in 2024 | Analysis​

Jon WilnerMay 14, 2024 at 11:47 am
A process that began last summer concluded Tuesday morning when Washington State and Oregon State announced a media rights agreement for their home games in 2024, when they will compete as a two-team football conference in the aftermath of the Pac-12’s demise.

Eleven of their 13 home games will be shown on The CW, with the other two on either Fox or FS1.

“It’s the best-case scenario,” said a source familiar with the negotiations. “It allows them to stay relevant.”

(No information about the teams’ road games in 2024 was made available; those matchups are controlled by the opponents’ media partners.)

WSU football home game schedule​

WSU football games will air nationally on The CW Network and Fox Sports in 2024
Although the Pac-12 Networks will cease to exist as a media distribution company at the end of June, the conference has retained the Bay Area production facility and will use the infrastructure to produce The CW broadcasts.

Our four-part reaction to the news:

• 1. The financial terms were not disclosed, but the deal is expected to generate approximately $1 million per game for the Cougars and Beavers.

That’s a paltry amount compared to what the 10 departing universities will receive under the terms of their agreements with the Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC. But cash was a secondary consideration to exposure for the ‘Pac-2’ schools.

In that regard, the agreement with The CW and Fox represents a massive upgrade.

Most OSU and WSU games over the past decade were shown on the Pac-12 Networks, which reached roughly 15% of the TV homes nationally.

The CW and Fox are broadcast networks available in 99% of TV homes.

“Given the number of times in recent years they’ve been exiled to the (Pac-12 Networks),” a second industry source said, “it will be good for everyone in the country to have access to all their games.”

• 2. The CW, which owns the rights to LIV Golf and NASCAR’s Xfinity Series, is steadily adding to its college football inventory after years of standing on the sidelines.

Last summer, the network announced it would broadcast 13 ACC football games annually through the 2026 season via a sub-licensing agreement with ESPN, which owns the ACC’s media rights.

The CW is expected to promote its Pac-12 package during ACC broadcasts and use ACC games as a lead-in to WSU and OSU matchups.

Each school will have one game on Fox or FS1: Texas Tech at Washington State, and Oregon at Oregon State.

• 3. Another key piece for two schools that have played so many night games over the years: The CW kickoff times are favorable.

Two of WSU’s six home games are locked into afternoon windows, while three more could start in daylight. Only one, against San Jose State, is guaranteed to kick off after dinner.

Meanwhile, four Oregon State’s seven home games have been scheduled for afternoon or early evening starts; the others could kick in afternoon windows.

“Most of the windows are conducive to ticket sales,” a source said.

• 4. The windows are also conducive to network studio shows.

During all the uproar over the Pac-12 night games — and the extent to which they were inconvenient for fans — an important element was often overlooked: #Pac12AfterDark had no shelf life.

Because the night games typically ended at 11 p.m. on the West Coast, there were few chances for highlights to appear on the influential ESPN, Fox and CBS studio shows that are produced during peak viewing hours on the East Coast.

By the time football fans in the eastern half of the country rolled out of bed on Sunday morning, the networks had transitioned to NFL coverage.

But The CW has afternoon and prime time (East Coast) windows available for the ‘Pac-2’ games, giving studio shows numerous opportunities to show highlights of WSU and OSU and discuss whatever narratives develop in Pullman and Corvallis.

For the schools left behind in the realignment game, relevance is far more important than revenue.

The Cougars and Beavers have enough cash to navigate the next few years thanks to a settlement with the departing universities worth in excess of $200 million.

What they need now — what they cannot survive without — is exposure.

The deal with CW and Fox offers exactly that.

Jon Wilner: jwilner@bayareanewsgroup.com

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Hopefully our admin is doing so. Oregon State is fielding its women's gymnastics team in the Big 12, coming on the heels of scheduling OOC games against Big 12 opponents. Barnes, the Oregon State AD, is on record saying this represents an intentional strategy. He has access to more information than we do, and this both says something about Oregon State's prospects of trying to get into the Big 12, as well as the feasibility and desirability of rebuilding the Pac-12.

I don't mean to overstate this; maintaining relationships like this makes sense in various ways other than just greasing the skids for Oregon State to join the Big 12 (with or without WSU). Just something to keep an eye on. WSU also scheduled multiple OOC games against Big 12 schools (and an ACC and SEC school, for that matter), as we know.

..."wait for it" as they say....

If the money is greater to have this a neutral site game every year, don't be surprised to see this happen.

With the spring practice done and a lot of uncertainty ahead, I decided to look at what Massey's computer ratings had to say about our upcoming season. Bear in mind that it's likely to be completely wrong because it looks at the past for its calculations and has no idea of how offseason roster changes will impact things. That said...here are the results that his model is predicting for the 2024 Cougs:

Portland St: 45-14
Texas Tech: 27-28
Washington: 24-33
San Jose St: 35-21
@ Boise St: 28-26
@ Fresno St: 31-26
Hawaii: 38-14
@ SDSU: 31-21
Utah St: 38-20
@ New Mexico: 38-17
@ Oregon St: 24-31
Wyoming: 34-20

He is predicting a 9-3 finish with a couple close road wins after a rough start. Texas Tech is a hard one to figure out. They beat a pretty decent KU team that was 7-2 and ranked in the Top 25 at the time. They thumped Cal in their bowl game....who beat us. They also struggled against the rest of the 5 and 6 win teams on their schedule and those games ended up being the last one with the ball wins. The Husky prediction is clearly based on last year's team but given our last ten years against the mutts...it's hard to argue against the result.

A little surprised by the prediction for us to beat both Boise State and Fresno State on the road. Frankly, I don't see us getting both of those wins. 9-3 would be a nice bridge season for us.

BTW, the computer is saying that Oregon State goes 11-1 with their only loss to Oregon.

What ever happened to him after he left the team. I liked the kid and his story.

On Brand X. All focused on Deputy AD Mitch Straub's presentation. Takeaways:

Has anyone here ever met this guy? He's from Ohio State so he came with Chun or shortly after. Why didn't he go to uw with Chun? Hmmm. He didn't get the WSU interim AD gig. Anyway, I don't think I like him all that much. Nor do I believe some of his numbers. To wit:

• This $62 million number keeps coming up. "This last year" is FY 2023, correct? I still don't believe it and unless I see some detail I will never believe it.
• And the $27+ million/year for the last 4 years? Does not fly with the numbers from the Regent's meeting. I'll have to dig into this more when time permits. FY 19 was our biggest year in operating gifts - but the smallest year accoring to Straub (I know, endowments are the wildcard, but we had 12.4M per below in operating and Straub sez our total was 15.1. But every year since has been over 27M? Noooooo....

Regents Doc. FY 19 to FY 25
Attachment B*There may be minor differences in subtotals shown above due to rounding to dollars million.REVENUES: Contributions/Endowments 12.4 10.7 8.5 10.7 12.7 10.4 8.8

I don't see Jaylon Wells name on the list.. anyone else see or hear differently?

Congrats UW…this is your guy 🤦🏼

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Didn’t watch the whole thing because I’m not a Brady disciple, but Bledsoe was there, and he was funny:
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Home of racists.

Until I confirm that what I saw is recent I'll rescind my previous statement.

Ok guys. This non-autonomy relegation is a bummer but not surprising or undeserved. Why should the Pac-2 get voting power equivalent to the 12-14-18 (I can't keep track) team P4?

So. Let's quit F-ing around hoping for a Big-12 invite (they don't want us and it would suck anyway), or some far-flung ACC restructure (won't happen, it would REALLY suck and they don't want us anyway).

Do the reverse merger with the Mtn West ASAP before one or more of them gets plucked out from under us. Save a few bucks on our 2025 affiliation option and - wow - maybe actually share in some media money and NCAA allocations to be earned in '25 and later. Won't cost us a dime and will save money as we jettison most of all of the Pac-2 Administration in favor of Gloria and gang.

Salvage what we can from the current bowl affiliations before contracts expire in 2026. Which makes it imperative that we move SOON. Alamo, Holiday, Sun and Vegas in order of preference/payout. With San Diego and Las Vegas as new Pac-12/14 hometowns, we may stand a chance of keeping the Holiday and Vegas. Sun Bowl can go away IMHO.

Stretch the cash windfall out as far as we can as we readjust. Don't forget the NCAA BB payouts in years 3-6, which we get only if the Pac remains in existence.

I am aware that the above concept has never been thrown out by the All-Knowing and Superior-Intellect Loyal One, so I favor you all by spelling it out here. Feel free to chime in with roaring approval.

Anyone go to the Coug event last night (Friday)? Any recap would be appreciated. Or we will have to wait for the Brand X recap.

Speaking of Brand X and the mutts, they have an article on our game, and the expected $4 million WSU will get. Wow - didn't expect that. Good news!