Welcome to the Friday Feedback, now with almost 20 percent of the Twitter followers needed to confidently submit a bid for the WVU athletic department’s multimedia rights.
In case you missed it, Freedom of Information Act requests made earlier last month were finally granted yesterday. All the submissions from both rounds of bidding were compiled on separate CDs, and while it was mostly standard and repetitive stuff that would occasionally distinguish itself slightly one way or the other, it was nevertheless enlightening.
Really, what have we been reading and talking about for months and months now? You can’t fully answer that because we didn’t have all the answers before yesterday. There were allegations and lawsuits and there was speculation and eventually involvement from the state’s attorney general.
Yet since this was established as an A vs. B conflict a while back, where A is Team Raese and B is Team WVU f/ IMG College and West Virginia Media, we really only focused on the arguments and the qualifications of those participants. We still didn’t have the information we needed to think and thus speak intelligently about their arguments and qualifications — and you could extend that to the other bidders when they were dragged into the fray — until yesterday.
So now we can put A and B side by side and take a look at part of what actually happened to better understand and explain what’s been happening. And frankly, it’s not a good look for Team Raese.
Prepare for the spin cycle now because people are going to twist the monetary figures, both included and assumed, in a way that serves their side best. That’s fine, and honestly there is something to that, though not enough to bridge the chasm, especially as it relates to the all-important guaranteed revenue.
Here are the two things I think stand out most.
1) WVRC wanted to continue its arrangement and let WVU maintain the revenue from the current Mountaineer Sports Network contracts, which was listed in the first RFP at $5.3 million. That’s not insignificant. And again, many of those are the things WVU came to retain in the second bid, which is, at the minimum, cheeky.
WVRC also mentioned forming relationships with regional television partners to expand its operation, which is ambitious, and there was even a pledge to hire more people to sell ads and to add to the pregame and postgame show. Yet relative to that last part, I can’t help but think that when someone slid that note across the table, Oliver Luck opened it and thought, “… why weren’t you doing this before?”
2) “In both rounds, IMG guaranteed WVU the most revenue.”
That’s that. There was this idea that was released like balloon at a birthday party a while back that suggested IMG wasn’t the highest bidder both times. Its constant presence in a time when WVU couldn’t comment or reveal bids, generated legitimacy.
That balloon popped yesterday.
One more gesture of gratitude, if you’ll allow it: Thanks for spreading the word and tuning in for that extended spot on the radio last night. Apparently it was extraordinarily popular. Stay tuned, please.
Onto the Feedback. As always, comments appear as posted. In other words, be honest.
Dann White said:
Hey Mike,
A suggestion from the peanut gallery: Many of us use the most recent string’s comment section to discuss the ongoing game, especially if the outcome is in doubt, or the effort is amazing. (think Orange Bowl)
How about a game-day chat, open to registered bloggers, to allow quicker commenting and, for that matter; additional quotable quotes for the Double-F.
It might also be a vehicle for you to pass along an observation or two of interest to your public (us).
If you needed help facilitating such a vehicle, consider me available.
I can’t believe that THE season to be jolly (not Christmas) is almost here….
D,a,double-n
The game day blog post is something I’m wrestling with before we start the new season. I agree I need to change my delivery and do less play-by-play, to so speak, and add more insight that’s unique to my game day privileges. Done. But what format? The chat is interesting because it invites more interaction than the live blog post, yet I wonder who’s chatting during a game. And I don’t have the time to be interactive in a chat room. Right now, I’m going back and forth between the live blog and the chat. They both have their merits, but I lean toward the live post.
Continue reading…
