Pac-12 football: Schools should think in terms of “rebuilding their business” in post-COVID-19 world

Despite campus shutdowns and a conference office rendered vacant by shelter-in-place regulations, Pac-12 administrators are engaged in regular discussions about several key issues facing college athletics.

The list includes the status of NCAA Tournament distributions, likely changes to transfer rules and the looming  legislation on name, image and likeness — momentous stuff, for sure.

But a subset of those officials convenes daily about a topic no one could have ever guessed would need addressing:

The restart of the college football machinery generally and spring practice specifically.

“The focus now, and rightfully so,” a conference source said, “is on the issues staring us directly in the face.”

But there are two issues standing off to the side, poised to deliver a wallop to major college athletics:

* A significant disruption to the football season in the form of a delayed start or outright shutdown (and the resulting financial toll).

* The status of the game-day experience for spectators in a post-COVID-19 world, whether that dawn arrives in September or not until the fall of 2021.

Those matters could soon move to the forefront.

“The Pac-12 has some of the smartest minds in the country, not only with athletic directors but also when you think about the universities themselves and all their resources,” said Andy Dolich, the Bay Area-based sports executive whose resume includes stints as the 49ers’ chief operating officer and the Memphis Grizzlies’ president of business operations.

“I would put a task force in place that has sports people, technology experts and even scientists — amass the smartest people and all the resources of the schools themselves …

“Because whenever this ends, it’s not going to be a case of, ‘OK, everything’s fine. Now come on back to the stadiums.'”

To that end, the conferences should not act independently:

There must be a coordinated effort, Dolich said, on the issues fundamental to the sport: from spring practice and recruiting to training camp and ticket sales.

To some extent, that process is underway: Pac-12 officials are in regular contact with peers in other conferences (and the NCAA) on the specifics of the calendar and eventual restart.

But Dolich pointed to the need for a broader discussion across major college football:

How will the sport lure fans back to the stadiums?

On this topic, Dolich, who owns a sports consulting agency, could be considered an expert:

He was the marketing force behind the “Billy Ball” and “Bash Brothers” promotional campaigns during his long tenure with the Oakland A’s.

In his view, a task force of university scientists and experienced football minds would be incomplete without feedback from the targeted audience:

The Pac-12 and other conferences should engage directly with current or potential season-ticket holders during the process of formulating a restart strategy.

What would cause fans of any given team to be wary of returning to the stadium?

What measures would increase public confidence in the safety of the game-day experience?

“The fans are going to have to trust that it’s a safe environment,” he said.

Would it be enough to have hand-sanitizing stations every 10 feet on the concourses?

Would spectators be comfortable sitting next to strangers?

Or would a temperature check at each entrance point be enough?

Because whenever college football opens its gates to the public — whether it’s the first weekend of Sept. 2020 or Sept. 2021 — the experience will be entirely different than it has been for the past 100 years.

Attendance has been on the decline for years, and now comes a global pandemic.

For the schools and the conferences, Dolich said, it won’t be enough to pick up where they left off.

It’s one thing to send kids back to school whenever the crisis ends.

It’s another to willingly spend the day in close quarters with tens of thousands of strangers.

“They need to think strategically and proactively to the time when they’re going to recover, to those days of the green light,” Dolich said.

“They have to think in terms of rebuilding their business.”

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