May 4, 2011
This is a reposting of the Wildcat Wednesday weekly email sent by Athletic Director Greg Byrne to all the wildcat fans around the country. If you would like to sign up to receive the email directly please sign up here.
PAC-12 TELEVISION CONTRACT
We'll be getting more details as the new arrangement develops, but today's announcement by Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott about the new media rights contract with ESPN and FOX Sports is very exciting. It's a historic deal and obviously will give us a much-needed revenue stream to stabilize a very challenging economic model for our athletics department, while also improving our league's ability to compete on a national level for many years to come. Watch the complete press conference
Commissioner Scott and his associates did a remarkable job putting this together in his brief tenure with the conference. Additionally, the formation of a Pac-12 Network and allied distribution of digital programming brightens the horizon for us in the near and distant future. A lot of information about which games will be shown and on what platform remains to be worked out in the coming months, but I think all of our supporters will find this new deal - which starts in 2012-13 - will take the UA and the other Pac-12 teams into wide-ranging markets.
Last week's edition of the Wildcat Wednesday cautioned against thinking the new media rights deal was the solution to our financial issues. Even after today's announcement it is important that we keep this reality in mind. While the dollars being mentioned are significant it doesn't change our need to strengthen our Wildcat Club, increase our season ticket bases, raise money for capital needs and otherwise build the Wildcat Movement. We continue to strive to be THE University of Arizona and we need everyone's help.
I'm quite sure we'll be discussing this issue in more detail later. We've already received questions like what days and times will our basketball team play, can we watch all games on television, will our All Access menu of video streamed content continue, and more. We don't have the answers at this time; however, I do plan to share these details with you as they become available.
YOU ANSWERED THE CALL, RIGHT?
Monday was the deadline for renewals for football season tickets, Wildcat Club memberships and basketball priority seating. The deadline has come and gone and, while a good chunk of the renewals have been handled, we still have some cleanup work to do. I hope you understand our financial model and the relative importance of football revenue. You've heard me say many times that football and men's basketball income pay for all our other sports. We need everyone to continue to spread the word that our football program is in good shape.CLICK HERE to renew your football season tickets and/or Wildcat Club membership (including men's basketball priority). We look forward to seeing you at Arizona Stadium in just a short while from now!
ROAD TRIPPING IN UA TERRITORY
Our excursion last week proved several things, chiefly that support for the University of Arizona is, indeed, statewide. It's remarkable how some personal contact in corners of our state can make a difference in how we're perceived. Taking our message to the people was a more than worthwhile endeavor and we'll continue to make plans to visit more communities in the future. We had an outstanding turnout at every stop and met some important people each time -- our supporters.
Thank you to everyone who came out to one of our Road Trip events. The reason why we went out to you is because we know that many of you travel to Tucson for our events. For those of you who haven't made the trip to Tucson lately, we encourage you to do so in the future.
Below is a picture from our stop in Nogales of me with the owners of this great looking 1951 Chevy truck. If you have photos you would like to share from one of our stops please email them to us at Facebook@arizona.eduand we'll post them on our official Facebook page.
DAVE'S ARIZONA SPORTS REPORT
Dave Evans is a 1951 Arizona grad, living in San Diego, who has written Dave's Arizona Sports Report every week for over 10 years. Dave covers all UA sports in season, from the majors of football and basketball to the mid-majors like baseball, softball and volleyball, to the less-followed golf, swimming, soccer and others.Readers have not only enjoyed the sports write-ups, but have really appreciated timely TV and game-time updates, often not available elsewhere for Wildcat fans outside the state of Arizona. As the TV commercial once said, "TRY IT, YOU'LL LIKE IT."
STATE FARM TERRITORIAL CUP BRAGGING RIGHTS
Our program's depth helped us win a second consecutive State Farm Territorial Cup Series this past weekend after our men's golf team finished ahead of ASU at the Pac-10 Championships. It gave us a three-point lead with two events (track and field championships) remaining in the rivalry showdown. Congratulations to everyone connected with our department for this accomplishment. It's not an end-all measuring stick for the success of our department, but it's a nice piece of work and something of which we're quite proud. We've won both years since State Farm signed on to sponsor the competition between UA and our friends to the north. And, despite not needing any more points to win, here's to the success of our track teams this week in the Pac-10 Championships!
CONTINUE TO SPREAD THE MOVEMENT
Last week, I challenged all the Wildcat fans across the country to help us spread the Wildcat Movementacross the nation to all 50 states. As of this morning, we've received Wildcat Club donations from 33 different states (the ones in red below). If you live in Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, or Wyoming... please step up and join the Wildcat Club today for as little as $9 per month.
THE COLORS IN ITALY
Jill Hall of the Alumni Association (second from right) sent this photo of a recent alumni tour group aboard ship in Portofino, Italy, with the colors well in evidence. The captain also flew the Block A from the mast during the port stay.
NOTES...
Our women's golf team heads to NCAA West Regional Championships competition in Seattle Thursday through Saturday. Hit 'em straight, fairways and greens... Our women's tennis team will begin NCAA Regionals next week. Freshman Susan McCrann fought her way into the invitational singles finals at the Pac-10 Championships last week... Baseball entertains Alcorn State in a three-game weekend series at Kindall/Sancet Stadium... Softball will be on the road in Westwood against UCLA for three games, the first meeting since the teams met in the WCWS Championship series last May... The men's and women's track and field teams will be at Drachman Stadium for Pac-10 Championship Combined Events competition Friday and Saturday. It's the first weekend of the league's final championship event (also May 13-14) before all the schools begin transitioning into a full season of Pac-12 competition in the fall along with new entrants Utah and Colorado... Congratulations to our three NFL bound defensive ends -- Brooks Reed (Texans), Ricky Elmore (Packers) and D'Aundre Reed (Vikings) for their selection in the NFL Draft last week. They were among 37 draftees from the Pac-12 schools...
Continue to do what you can to help Arizona Athletics and:
- Join the Wildcat Movement
- Buy Season Tickets
- Wear the Colors (Especially on Friday)
- Get Others to Do the Same
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