One thing that I’ll probably never get over with respect to the PAC12 is the pervasive lie that “I can’t even get the PAC12 network”.
Was that true? No. It was a lie. And we can speculate as to why this lie was so prevalent especially in online communities including this one.
Some key time points for expanded access to the PAC12 include:
Summer 2011 DISH.
August, 2014 YouTube International.
February 2015 Sling.
**DISH**
In the Summer of 2011, prior to the inaugural PAC12 kickoff, DISH was added as a PAC partner. This made the P12N available nationally. So what were the barriers to adoption for PAC fans?
1) Don’t have my own roof. Renters, apartment dwellers, and other people who literally could not place a dish on a roof did not have access.
2) NFL Sunday ticket. The only reason why DTV was a sticking point was that DTV was the home of NFL Sunday Ticket. Any PAC fan who chose DTV (and the choice was aided by the fact that if you called DTV to cancel and mentioned the P12N they would offer you free Sunday Ticket) obviously had a roof and the opportunity to get DISH.
Although this segment of NFL-first fans had the opportunity to get DISH and P12N, they seem almost universally to have made the false claim/lie that “I can’t even get the P12N”. This lie served the purpose of protecting their egos as fans, because to say that I chose not to get the P12N would accurately characterize this segment as fair-weather CFB fans.
**YouTube International**
The PAC12 network became available on YouTube International for $10 month. In August 2014. As an a la carte option this was the dream of early adopter cord-cutters. All that stood in their path was a $10 subscription and a VPN to spoof their location. I think a lot of early cord-cutters had the VPN issue solved. So why didn’t they do this? Likely lack of awareness. Any positive mention of P12N access on any forum, was completely drowned out be the DTV-subscribing “I can’t get the P12N” fans noted above.
**Sling**
For people without roofs, Sling became an option in February 2015. For the 98% of American households with broadband Internet access, getting the PAC12N was a few mouse clicks away. It literally takes less time to sign up for sling than to order a pizza online. And with 98% of households covered by broadband Sling is more available than Dominos delivery.
Now for 98% of the population “I can’t get the P12N” was an outright lie. So why is this narrative so pervasive?
Because P12 fans suck. Not because they didn’t pay for a service that might make them chose against another interest like the NFL. But because overwhelmingly people who made this choice outright lied about it to cover the fact that they are fair-weather fans.
And in doing so they completely undermined the financial viability of the conference by destroying its public perception and creating a barrier of misinformation that kept potential new subscribers and revenue from being realized by the conference.
This narrative also undercut any confidence that PAC fans might actually support a subscription service like Apple+ which is why Apple came in with such a lowball offer.
Was that true? No. It was a lie. And we can speculate as to why this lie was so prevalent especially in online communities including this one.
Some key time points for expanded access to the PAC12 include:
Summer 2011 DISH.
August, 2014 YouTube International.
February 2015 Sling.
**DISH**
In the Summer of 2011, prior to the inaugural PAC12 kickoff, DISH was added as a PAC partner. This made the P12N available nationally. So what were the barriers to adoption for PAC fans?
1) Don’t have my own roof. Renters, apartment dwellers, and other people who literally could not place a dish on a roof did not have access.
2) NFL Sunday ticket. The only reason why DTV was a sticking point was that DTV was the home of NFL Sunday Ticket. Any PAC fan who chose DTV (and the choice was aided by the fact that if you called DTV to cancel and mentioned the P12N they would offer you free Sunday Ticket) obviously had a roof and the opportunity to get DISH.
Although this segment of NFL-first fans had the opportunity to get DISH and P12N, they seem almost universally to have made the false claim/lie that “I can’t even get the P12N”. This lie served the purpose of protecting their egos as fans, because to say that I chose not to get the P12N would accurately characterize this segment as fair-weather CFB fans.
**YouTube International**
The PAC12 network became available on YouTube International for $10 month. In August 2014. As an a la carte option this was the dream of early adopter cord-cutters. All that stood in their path was a $10 subscription and a VPN to spoof their location. I think a lot of early cord-cutters had the VPN issue solved. So why didn’t they do this? Likely lack of awareness. Any positive mention of P12N access on any forum, was completely drowned out be the DTV-subscribing “I can’t get the P12N” fans noted above.
**Sling**
For people without roofs, Sling became an option in February 2015. For the 98% of American households with broadband Internet access, getting the PAC12N was a few mouse clicks away. It literally takes less time to sign up for sling than to order a pizza online. And with 98% of households covered by broadband Sling is more available than Dominos delivery.
Now for 98% of the population “I can’t get the P12N” was an outright lie. So why is this narrative so pervasive?
Because P12 fans suck. Not because they didn’t pay for a service that might make them chose against another interest like the NFL. But because overwhelmingly people who made this choice outright lied about it to cover the fact that they are fair-weather fans.
And in doing so they completely undermined the financial viability of the conference by destroying its public perception and creating a barrier of misinformation that kept potential new subscribers and revenue from being realized by the conference.
This narrative also undercut any confidence that PAC fans might actually support a subscription service like Apple+ which is why Apple came in with such a lowball offer.
