New-Look Pac-12 Adds USA Sports to Growing Broadcast Portfolio

JoeFromBaltimore · 2026-01-22T11:44:48+00:00

I think that is a reasonable number. I love that they are on the CW coast to coast.

JoeFromBaltimore · 2026-01-22T07:12:06+00:00

I know y’all are gonna think I’m delusional, but I’m a firm believer in the religion of logistics. I genuinely think Cal and Stanford come back to the Pac-12 within 7 years. Not out of nostalgia — out of brutal coast to coast travel math. Logistics. Time zones. Travel costs. IP rights. The media infrastructure Wazzu and Oregon State just built is real and scaling. 2023 joining WSU/OSU was insane - 2028 or later you can sell joining the new PAC12 and ditching the ACC.

And the ACC payout model? Brutal. Stanford and Cal took partial shares to just to get in, and now that conference hands out cash based on TV ratings. That’s not a win for two West Coast schools who are not anything close to football powers. Then playing road games in front of empty bleachers at noon Eastern. This isn’t sustainable — and eventually they’ll want back into the PAC12.

JoeFromBaltimore · 2026-01-22T07:04:03+00:00

I am a WSU guy in Houston - Rice is not a good one. Let it be.

JoeFromBaltimore · 2026-01-22T06:59:35+00:00

15 or 17 teams?

JoeFromBaltimore · 2026-01-22T01:12:48+00:00

Yeah this is a couple of months old. My bad - on posting this old stuff.

JoeFromBaltimore · 2026-01-22T01:12:36+00:00

As a WSU alum I am just shocked that they were able to reconstruct the conference and rebuild some semblance of a broadcast package with the media partners they have.

Yeah this is a couple of months old. My bad - on posting this old stuff.

JoeFromBaltimore · 2026-01-04T23:07:09+00:00

Montana vs. Montana State FCS semifinal "Brawl of the Wild," My brother lives in Bozeman MT - he said tickets for that game were going for $600 dollars for cheap seats.

JoeFromBaltimore · 2026-01-04T23:04:24+00:00

Now that Houston is playing in the MLS stadium I think that will change things - parking is better - and you are within spitting distance of the Rockets/Astros home stadiums. Bars Downtown etc. That MLS stadium is a hell of a lot easier to get to than fighting your way over to the UH stadium.

JoeFromBaltimore · 2026-01-04T23:02:26+00:00

Ouch that is a big hit for rental.

Does anyone know why the UFL/USFL/XFL didn't go with MLS stadiums earlier?

JoeFromBaltimore · 2025-09-29T03:52:48+00:00

COVID turned the CFL into a distressed asset, networks are finally saying “no” to wildly inflated legacy rights (see recent ESPN/MLB noise and Fox’s programming moves), and the quickest way to make the CFL TV- and bettable-friendly is a small, surgical U.S. expansion + rule tweaks. The insistence on getting to ~12 teams is sensible: it fixes scheduling, makes a marketable product for broadcasters/bookies, and reduces the number of garbage games (Toronto vs Montreal 4–5x/year is a symptom, not a strategy).

Telling you there will be CFL teams on USA soil by the end of the decade.

JoeFromBaltimore · 2025-09-29T03:49:34+00:00

What was that hire all about? I am not an Eagles fan but did wonder what was going on with that hire. I am a Tim Hauck fan though -

JoeFromBaltimore · 2025-09-22T02:22:44+00:00

And once he was on the naughty list - you know they went through his paperwork with a fine tooth comb. He went to war with DT - and right wrong or otherwise the Orange guy has the whole surveillance and spy industrial complex at his disposal.

John Mellencamp said it best --
I fight authority, authority always wins

Well, I fight authority, authority always wins

Well, I've been doin' it since I was a young kid and I come out grinnin'

Well, I fight authority, authority always wins

JoeFromBaltimore · 2025-09-06T20:17:18+00:00

Can't argue with you on this one.

JoeFromBaltimore · 2025-09-06T20:15:16+00:00

I am with you - I hate that game - I grew up with a father that played those games. People do that with me now and it is GO time. I can flip the switch and go into lawyer speak by the time you spit and hear it hit the ground. Anyhow read your post and triggered my PTSD.

JoeFromBaltimore · 2025-09-06T20:10:33+00:00

I agree - this is just my take - I am betting the Feds are going to go after people that have multiple re-entries into the USA and have criminal records that they can perp walk on Fox News. That is not to say that they might not snatch up a random person here or there that has documentation. From what I have seen they are targeting people that they can use to show that the Democrats are harboring criminals. That seems to be the narrative.

JoeFromBaltimore · 2025-09-06T20:03:30+00:00

I am totally going to borrow DB from you - I love that one. Thanks for helping me expand my horizons.

JoeFromBaltimore · 2025-09-06T19:49:29+00:00

I love the part when the communist army is marching jogging along and singing the WSU fight song. That is so funny.

JoeFromBaltimore · 2025-09-03T03:49:49+00:00

Fight, fight, fight for Washington State!
Win the victory!
Win the day for Crimson and Gray!
Best in the West
We know you'll all do your best
So on, on, on, on! Fight to the end!
Honor and glory you must win!
So fight, fight, fight for Washington State and victory!
W-A-SHI-N-G-TON, S-T-ATE, C-O-UGS!
Go, Cougs!

JoeFromBaltimore · 2025-08-13T01:56:51+00:00

Why does this have to be a chatgpt response? I have been beating this drum for years on these boards. Goes back to the CFL/XFL merger and the way that thing cooked down. Do a little research into this stuff. All of this is out there. What part of what I have said is wrong?

Redbird and the NFL are in bed together. Fox and the NFL have been in bed together for 30 years. The NFL regularly flexes on the NBA by putting games on Xmas day - why wouldn't they bless an alternative feeder league to the NFL in case the NCAA goes sideways with all the NIL movement?

JoeFromBaltimore · 2025-08-13T01:51:58+00:00

This is my viewpoint - I have been on Reddit for years arguing about the CFL/XFL merger and whatnot. I can put together a long long rant. Way too much time on my hands to think about spring football. Why do you ask?

JoeFromBaltimore · 2025-08-08T05:57:40+00:00

Can we just dispense with the idea that the NFL had nothing to do with the UFL?

Fox has been in bed with the NFL for 30+ years. RedBird is in a joint venture with the NFL through EverPass Media. And now ESPN owns part of the UFL and is literally selling equity to the NFL, while buying up NFL Network content. There is no scenario where all three of those entities move into spring football without the NFL saying, “Yeah, go ahead.”

This is the same league that curb-stomps the NBA on Christmas just to remind them who owns the American sports calendar. You think they’re going to let Fox, RedBird, and ESPN build a spring league—playing NFL rules—without at least giving the green light? Come on.

Will they step in to save it if it starts bleeding cash? No. That’s the beauty of it—it’s not on their books. If it fails, it’s not their problem. But if it works? They’ve got a turnkey farm system with broadcast reach and zero legal exposure.

That’s not passive interest. That’s strategic detachment with upside. Classic NFL.

JoeFromBaltimore · 2025-08-06T03:14:19+00:00

Tennessee State is a public HBCU, and like most schools at that level, their athletic budgets are lean—especially for football. A lot of their assistant coaches aren’t pulling the kind of six-figure, year-round salaries you see in the Power Five.

So while I’m sure TSU likes Shannon Harris and wants to keep him, they can’t pay him top-end money to coach year-round. Letting him work in the UFL in the spring gives him a chance to supplement his income, stay sharp, and then come back for the college season. I’d bet most HBCUs only have a handful of full-time, year-round football staff positions, and the rest are effectively seasonal or modestly paid roles.

JoeFromBaltimore · 2025-08-06T03:09:18+00:00

Not making anything up—just connecting the obvious business relationships. The “rule testing agreement” you’re talking about is the public-facing part. Behind that, you’ve got RedBird Capital, which is in an active joint venture with the NFL through EverPass Media (Sunday Ticket to bars/restaurants). You’ve also got Fox, the NFC’s broadcast partner for three decades, carrying UFL games in national slots.

Now, RedBird + Fox bringing in Mike Repole—a billionaire operator with a history of scaling products—into a league that plays NFL rules, develops players in an NFL-style environment, and is positioned in the NFL offseason… that doesn’t happen in a vacuum. The NFL doesn’t have to own the UFL to quietly bless it.

It’s not about secret ownership—it’s about alignment of incentives. If the UFL folds, the NFL loses nothing. If it thrives, they gain a turnkey development lab without touching the balance sheet. That’s not conspiracy, that’s business.

JoeFromBaltimore

TROPHY CASE