Statesman.com | If money talks, Horns' network deal is $peaking volumes

Statesman.com | If money talks, Horns' network deal is $peaking volumes

A few quotes I liked:

"The money-printing machine that is the Texas athletic department officially partnered with ESPN on Wednesday to announce to the world that if a Longhorns athlete is tackling, dribbling, hit-and-running, double-bogeying, rowing, backstroking, backhanding or pretty much doing anything remotely athletic, it will be on your television soon. All the softball and cross country in HD your little heart desires."

"Hey, don't blame Texas for being Texas this time. It's looking after its own self interests. Can't fault Texas for maximizing its position in such a populous state with so many potential subscribers."

"What the new network will do is put pressure on coaches to produce big-time but also give them an unspeakable recruiting advantage. Starting this fall, a budding soccer star in San Diego or the next Canadian basketball forward at Findlay Prep can turn on the Texas network every day and watch the prettiest coeds in the nation and see that the sun shines 364 days in Austin. Oh, and rowing. Competing coaches are just going to love that."

"No other school has a similar setup like Texas now has whereby every home sporting content not already promised to a national network can be shown on the Longhorn network."

"The University of the Joneses just moved into a neighborhood with only one house in it. Its house. This is Texas' world, and everyone else from Oklahoma to Oregon — your move, Phil Knight — is living in it."

Burke Magnus, ESPN's senior vice president for college sports programming:

"Most other schools don't have the oomph," Magnus said. "I think Texas has the oomph."



My thoughts:

Great article, that made me laugh giddily several times. DeLoss Dodds and the rest of the Longhorn's leadership has revolutionized college sports, whether you like it or not. The genie is out of the bottle folks. The quotes about being the Jonses may seem arrogant, but the power, prestige, and financial independence that Texas has developed are unmatched. Congratulations Texas Execs...