Tony Chiado

ESPN announced today that they will be partnering with FOX and Warner Bros. Discovery to launch a massive sports streaming platform this fall. As more and more sports programming moves to streaming platforms, it appears that there is an effort here to lead the market.

Pac-2 fans have taken this news to mean that the University of Washington was foolish to reject the Apple Deal offered to the then Pac-9 last summer. But the only reason they feel that way is because it was preferential to their alternatives. For UW, the alternative was much more preferable. Here’s why:

1. Linear TV is currently king. Millions more TVs turn on for games on cable than streaming at the moment. To act as the early adopters of streaming only would be detrimental to UW’s exposure. They knew that and rejected the proposal in part because of this.
2. Joining the B1G means that UW is now part of the in-group that will prominently feature on ESPN/FOX/Warner Bros. Discovery’s new streaming service. While still having access to linear programming, UW will also be part of the most subscribed sports streaming service in the business. ESPN (26M) alone has more viewers than Apple TV (25M) as of 2024. Then add Hulu (48M), Disney+ (150M), and Max (95M) and the benefit of being on that streaming service as opposed to Apple is a no brainer.
3. East Coast bias exists. It has long affected the ambitions of west coast teams to gain proper recognition. Imagine how much worse that would get on a streaming service subscription with Apple where the product was only appealing to folks on the West Coast. Because the package would only include West Coast teams, virtually no one in other parts of the country would purchase the subscription. This would dramatically increase the impact of East coast bias and ensure that UW exposure was reduced to regional access. It would be like every conference game was on the Pac-12 Network. Meanwhile, the rest of the nation would forget we exist.

The notion that this is some sort of proof that Cauce, Cohen, and even DeBoer didn’t know the landscape is more proof that Pac-2 fans and pundits just don’t get it. Or maybe they just don’t want to. I don’t know. But let’s be clear. The University of Washington is in a supremely better place today because of its membership with B1G that will allow for premier linear and streaming exposure than it would have been had it taken the Apple deal back in the summer. Even with the temporary half share. Even with the travel. Go Dawgs.