We spent last Thursday and Friday in Los Angeles for Pac 12 Media Days. A big event that helps signal the start of the college football year as coaches from each conference team, along with two players from each, spend two days talking with the media, participating in games, and enjoying University inspired ice cream. It’s a fun event that rewards the top players from each team with an experience in Hollywood, while the media gets to acquaint themselves with some of the other teams around the conference as we countdown to kickoff.
There were 17 television and radio booths setup at Pac 12 media days. 17 booths for 12 teams. The Pac 12 Network occupied two of those booths and a Sirius XM national outlet occupied another. 14 booths remain for local outlets of the 12 schools. Six of those came from Salt Lake City. All three local sports radio stations and three of the four local television outlets occupied those spots.
As UCLA head coach, Jim Mora, said, ‘There sure are a lot of you guys here from Salt Lake.’
UCLA’s flagship station? No one. Stanford? Cal? Nada. USC’s flagship didn’t send anyone. They sent their secondary outlet from Orange County. One radio station out of the state of Oregon. One from the state of Washington. You get the idea.
We all knew that entrance into the Pac 12 would signal an increase in local coverage, but this kind of interest? And in comparison to the rest of the Pac 12? I was surprised how important this event was and college football is to the state of Utah in comparison to the rest of the conference.
With 19 wins over the last two seasons, University of Utah football is now the biggest game in town. A mantle held by the Jazz since 1979 has been passed to Kyle Whittingham’s program. The fans want Utah football. The media wants Utah football. You want Utah football. Unlike in the rest of the conference, it was delivered in large doses for Salt Lake City. The fans want more coverage? You’re getting it.
