Just pointing out one minor clarification in Cauce's response to the question about TV influence over college athletics:
The following sentence now reads: "That’s the world we live in, because we don’t have regulation, and the courts made the decision that regulation is not the right thing." I originally misheard "the courts" as "of course." Just wanted to note that slight clarification.
First-rate reporting Christian, thank you. There’s gonna be books written about demise of PAC12 and you are helping shape chapters we all want to hear more about
One thing I’ll quibble about specifically in relation to this quote: the courts didn’t decide that regulation is not the right thing. The courts held that Congress didn’t grant exemptions from US laws. Congress has had decades to pass legislation correcting that, and it has not done so. Not saying you needed to pick that fight with her in an interview (you correctly did not).
Fantastic interview, Christian. Hit on so many questions I would love to get answers on, and she was forthright. Great to hear her say so many things that I would want to hear from her.
Great interview. You got President Cauce to share information pretty broadly. It all rings as true to me.
I will add that I think President Cauce comes across as having very solid judgment and leadership skills, understands the importance of football, and the importance of dealing with circumstances as they are not as we wish they were. I hope she stays with us for her entire career.
Likewise impressed by AMC and her candidness. She clearly “gets it.”
Also learned so many new things here, like the Big10 cancer network and President/AD quibbling, etc. And appreciated her clarification on the $50mm rumor.
This was a fascinating read. She's always seemed pretty straight-forward to me and that hasn't changed. I wish her all the success in finding that "perfect for the Huskies" new AD,
Best interview of a P12 president that I’ve seen since realignment started. You asked the questions we’ve all been curious about, and kudos to AMC for answering them honestly.
If she can nail the AD hire, UW is going to be in great hands.
This was a nice “get”, and why I love subscribing. Thank you CC!
Larry Scott worked for the presidents, not the other way around. If she and other presidents didn’t like the way he treated their AD’s, or which hotels they stayed in, or why the games were not widely available on TV, then she and they should have loudly spoken up. Merely grumbling about it to yourself or your staff is not effective leadership.
Also, her claiming that there never was a $50 million demand for TV rights sounds a bit doubtful given other insider comments and the fact she does admit there were presidents and faculty coming up with their own numbers. At minimum, it raises the question, “If there was no $50 million demand and indeed both sides were so close in the low $30 millions, why did negotiations suddenly collapse?” I can’t help but wonder if she’s parsing definitions here, like maybe it was verbally presented but never took the form of a written counteroffer at an official negotiating session.
Thanks, Christian, for this very timely and to the point interview. So many times we are limited to columnists' opinions. It's so much easier to sit down and write one opinion than it is to set up interviews, bird-dog the source, and eventually set up a meeting where the interview takes place. This was the right thing to do and we thank you for it. This answers a lot of my questions while also giving me a good idea of the type of person the UW president is. By the way, how about digging into "The Boys in the Boat," interviewing someone about the movie, how it portrays U-Dub, and put some of the historical aspects of the movie in perspective with the current program? Thanks.
Don't tend to comment on things, but this was fantastic Christian, thank you. There's a reason I evangelize to everyone who cares about UW that they should subscribe to your work and it's because you're phenomenal at covering so many angles of this program and other UW programs, whether on-field, off-field, or at the institutional level like this. Cheers
Her explanation of how the $50M number came about is plausible. Others taking that number and making it something different than it was is how our current media gets eyeballs.
It’s obvious the President’s of the PAC were all afraid of being left behind and acting on self interests, rather than common interests. Not sure I can say I wouldn’t have done the same thing.
Great comment. It reminds me of one of the core principles of "Game Theory."
Basically, whenever you're in a gamified scenario (any negotiation ever!) you should always assume that every party is planning to act in their own best self-interest at all times. Truth is, if any of these presidents actually believed that schools were prepared to sacrifice their own well being for the sake of the community of the PAC12....they failed "Intro to Strategic Thinking 101"
To each their own, but I don't believe a good bit of what Cauce says here.
University administrators tend to be politicians first and foremost. Cauce's goal seems to be helping UW — and by proxy herself — avoid the blame for the Pac-12's collapse.
Her claim that one game per week on linear TV and everything else streamed on Apple equaled an acceptable deal — as she states in the last paragraph — is absurd. That would've been a disaster for Husky Football and very possibly led to the program being permanently relegated to second-tier status in terms of both exposure and recruiting as members of a watered down PAC (and yes Cauce may be fudging the truth here in an effort to avoid legal action due to the conference's demise).
Cauce doesn't address Cohen's reason for leaving, but people who would know have suggested two very plausible causes
1. USC offered a huge raise that UW's decision-makers weren't willing to match
2. UW's upper campus was unwilling to provide any increased financial support for the football program, which meant (particularly after Covid) Cohen had to hit up boosters to help pay down the stadium debt.
That decision ultimately means less money to help UW stay competitive in the NIL/recruiting rat race.
If Cauce wants to see soccer and softball and other non-revenue sports thrive as much as she indicates she does, then she'll be a leader and see it to that DeBoer and his staff have enough resources for UW to bring in and retain talent at a Top 15 type level
No shit usc offered more money. Do you think if they didn't she would've left a university she was with for over 20 years? They are a private university and can offer what they want. Unlike a public university like UW that is hamstrung in what they can off. EVERY university goes to boosters for donations whether they get tv money, state money or whatever. And for the millionth time the school has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH NIL.
Often wrong, never in doubt… his point, which sailed totally over your head, was that boosters have a finite amount of money they are going to give to the UW… and if they are donating to pay down the stadium debt, that is less money they have to donate to Montlake Futures or whatever for NIL.
Just pointing out one minor clarification in Cauce's response to the question about TV influence over college athletics:
The following sentence now reads: "That’s the world we live in, because we don’t have regulation, and the courts made the decision that regulation is not the right thing." I originally misheard "the courts" as "of course." Just wanted to note that slight clarification.
First-rate reporting Christian, thank you. There’s gonna be books written about demise of PAC12 and you are helping shape chapters we all want to hear more about
This was a really good interview. Well done.
One thing I’ll quibble about specifically in relation to this quote: the courts didn’t decide that regulation is not the right thing. The courts held that Congress didn’t grant exemptions from US laws. Congress has had decades to pass legislation correcting that, and it has not done so. Not saying you needed to pick that fight with her in an interview (you correctly did not).
Fantastic interview, Christian. Hit on so many questions I would love to get answers on, and she was forthright. Great to hear her say so many things that I would want to hear from her.
Great interview. You got President Cauce to share information pretty broadly. It all rings as true to me.
I will add that I think President Cauce comes across as having very solid judgment and leadership skills, understands the importance of football, and the importance of dealing with circumstances as they are not as we wish they were. I hope she stays with us for her entire career.
Awesome interview! Love the questions and how candid she was.
I have become a huge AMC fan during this conference realignment process.
Likewise impressed by AMC and her candidness. She clearly “gets it.”
Also learned so many new things here, like the Big10 cancer network and President/AD quibbling, etc. And appreciated her clarification on the $50mm rumor.
Thanks, CC!
This was a fascinating read. She's always seemed pretty straight-forward to me and that hasn't changed. I wish her all the success in finding that "perfect for the Huskies" new AD,
Given all that's taken place, I think this is the interview of the year. Nice job Christian.
One of my favorite interviews ever, thank you Christian. I also appreciate President Cauce’s transparency in her answers.
Best interview of a P12 president that I’ve seen since realignment started. You asked the questions we’ve all been curious about, and kudos to AMC for answering them honestly.
If she can nail the AD hire, UW is going to be in great hands.
This was a nice “get”, and why I love subscribing. Thank you CC!
Larry Scott worked for the presidents, not the other way around. If she and other presidents didn’t like the way he treated their AD’s, or which hotels they stayed in, or why the games were not widely available on TV, then she and they should have loudly spoken up. Merely grumbling about it to yourself or your staff is not effective leadership.
Also, her claiming that there never was a $50 million demand for TV rights sounds a bit doubtful given other insider comments and the fact she does admit there were presidents and faculty coming up with their own numbers. At minimum, it raises the question, “If there was no $50 million demand and indeed both sides were so close in the low $30 millions, why did negotiations suddenly collapse?” I can’t help but wonder if she’s parsing definitions here, like maybe it was verbally presented but never took the form of a written counteroffer at an official negotiating session.
Who exactly are those insiders? I would think a president of a university would have better insights than some reporter.
Thanks, Christian, for this very timely and to the point interview. So many times we are limited to columnists' opinions. It's so much easier to sit down and write one opinion than it is to set up interviews, bird-dog the source, and eventually set up a meeting where the interview takes place. This was the right thing to do and we thank you for it. This answers a lot of my questions while also giving me a good idea of the type of person the UW president is. By the way, how about digging into "The Boys in the Boat," interviewing someone about the movie, how it portrays U-Dub, and put some of the historical aspects of the movie in perspective with the current program? Thanks.
Don't tend to comment on things, but this was fantastic Christian, thank you. There's a reason I evangelize to everyone who cares about UW that they should subscribe to your work and it's because you're phenomenal at covering so many angles of this program and other UW programs, whether on-field, off-field, or at the institutional level like this. Cheers
Her explanation of how the $50M number came about is plausible. Others taking that number and making it something different than it was is how our current media gets eyeballs.
It’s obvious the President’s of the PAC were all afraid of being left behind and acting on self interests, rather than common interests. Not sure I can say I wouldn’t have done the same thing.
Great comment. It reminds me of one of the core principles of "Game Theory."
Basically, whenever you're in a gamified scenario (any negotiation ever!) you should always assume that every party is planning to act in their own best self-interest at all times. Truth is, if any of these presidents actually believed that schools were prepared to sacrifice their own well being for the sake of the community of the PAC12....they failed "Intro to Strategic Thinking 101"
Phew... sounds like she really gets it. Now nail the AD hire and make UW the national brand it should be!!! Nice work, Christian!
To each their own, but I don't believe a good bit of what Cauce says here.
University administrators tend to be politicians first and foremost. Cauce's goal seems to be helping UW — and by proxy herself — avoid the blame for the Pac-12's collapse.
Her claim that one game per week on linear TV and everything else streamed on Apple equaled an acceptable deal — as she states in the last paragraph — is absurd. That would've been a disaster for Husky Football and very possibly led to the program being permanently relegated to second-tier status in terms of both exposure and recruiting as members of a watered down PAC (and yes Cauce may be fudging the truth here in an effort to avoid legal action due to the conference's demise).
Cauce doesn't address Cohen's reason for leaving, but people who would know have suggested two very plausible causes
1. USC offered a huge raise that UW's decision-makers weren't willing to match
2. UW's upper campus was unwilling to provide any increased financial support for the football program, which meant (particularly after Covid) Cohen had to hit up boosters to help pay down the stadium debt.
That decision ultimately means less money to help UW stay competitive in the NIL/recruiting rat race.
If Cauce wants to see soccer and softball and other non-revenue sports thrive as much as she indicates she does, then she'll be a leader and see it to that DeBoer and his staff have enough resources for UW to bring in and retain talent at a Top 15 type level
No shit usc offered more money. Do you think if they didn't she would've left a university she was with for over 20 years? They are a private university and can offer what they want. Unlike a public university like UW that is hamstrung in what they can off. EVERY university goes to boosters for donations whether they get tv money, state money or whatever. And for the millionth time the school has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH NIL.
Often wrong, never in doubt… his point, which sailed totally over your head, was that boosters have a finite amount of money they are going to give to the UW… and if they are donating to pay down the stadium debt, that is less money they have to donate to Montlake Futures or whatever for NIL.
You don't have to announce you often wrong. And sorry didn't realize you were in his head and know exactly what he was thinking.
Great questions, and seemingly honest, transparent answers.
Thank you. Definitely hit so many great questions and gave us a look behind the curtain. Feel better after hearing her answers.