No thunderbolts here, but a few developments that I hadn?t been able to address prior to this point:
*** The conference announced late last week that it has found a home for its broadcast center: Downtown San Francisco, in the same Third Street building that houses Comcast?s Bay Area operations.
This should come as no surprise:
The league wanted to base its TV and Digital networks in the Bay Area (near the administrative office in Walnut Creek), and it has a distribution partnership with Comcast for the Pac-12 Networks.
I?m sure that placing the broadcast center in the Comcast building will result in 1) some level of cost savings, or 2) more efficient operations in advance of the network launch in Aug. ?12, or 3) both.
*** The conference named Leon Schweir as the Senior VP for Production and Operations for the Pac-12 Networks.
Schweir, who was on the Big Ten Network?s launch team, will oversee the studio and remote operations for the national and six regional networks ? and there will be plenty of remote operations.
My understanding is that each campus will have a mini-studio ? most likely housed in the athletic department, but those logistics are TBD ? from which it will broadcast content for its dedicated regional network (and, to a lesser extent, the national network).
There will also be broadcast locations in each school?s main athletic facilities.
*** Along those lines, the league named Bob Keyser as the VP for University Relations for Pac-12 Enterprises.
He?ll work with the schools to make sure the above-mentioned campus infrastructure delivers the necessary content to the networks. He?s?also charged with coordinating the live events.
Keyser spent the past two years as a consultant on the league?s digital strategy, so he has a familiarity with the league?s plan and fledgling network operation.
If it seems like Keyser and Schweir are tackling some of the same issues, they are. To coordinate, produce and broadcast 850 live events from 12 campuses requires a massive undertaking ? and, when all the hiring is said and done, 100s of people.
*** Lastly ? and in case you missed it ?
Commissioner Larry Scott told Bloomberg Businessweek recently that the conference is seriously considering moving its basketball tournaments to Las Vegas.
Specifically, to the MGM Grand.
The Hotline?s position on the subject is this:
The conference cannot continue to have the basketball tournaments in Los Angeles. The empty seats in Staples Center ? not to mention general lack of interest in Southern California ? has become an embarrassment.
My vote would be to rotate the basketball tournaments in NBA-caliber arenas: Seattle one year, Phoenix the next, then Salt Lake City, for example.
Las Vegas, as a permanent site, is a close second on my list.
And please note: I?m not privy to the bids submitted by the relevant western cities, so it?s possible that Vegas stands as by far the league?s best option.
* Follow me @WilnerHotline on Twitter.
* Download the Bay Area News Group?s new iPad app for more college sports and other news, or check out college sports coverage on MercuryNews.com.
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