Hotline mailbag: COVID protocols, vax rates, mask mandates, Big Ten alliance, DirecTV outlook and more
The Hotline mailbag is published each Friday. Send questions to pac12hotline@bayareanewsgroup.com or hit me on Twitter: @WilnerHotline. Due to volume — and in some cases, the need for research — not all questions will be answered the week of submission. Thanks for your understanding.
Some questions have been edited for clarity and brevity.
Potential game forfeitures: What is the Pac-12’s COVID testing policy for the 2021 football season? Alternatively, how is it different from the 2020 season, including testing frequency and reporting requirements of positive cases to Pac-12 headquarters? — @BruinSharman
The primary difference is the treatment of vaccinated players.
Last year, the conference required rapid antigen testing before practice, at least one PCR test per week (before travel for road teams) and an on-site, pre-game test.
This season, the process has been scaled back, although the protocols listed below would be adjusted in instances of elevated transmission within the team.
The following is taken from the Pac-12’s return-to-play policy for 2021:
Testing for vaccinated players:
— No surveillance testing required
— No quarantine required after exposure to an individual with COVID-19 necessary for asymptomatic individuals
— Mask must be worn after exposure to an individual with COVID-19 for 14 days or until a negative PCR test on day 3-5 following exposure
Testing for unvaccinated players:
— Testing and quarantine upon return to campus following non-team related travel
— Regular surveillance testing, minimum of one molecular PCR test per week (or 3 times a week antigen testing on non-consecutive days)
— Quarantine for the locally required period of time following high-risk COVID-19 exposure
— Mask while indoors
Quarantine procedure for close contacts:
Fully vaccinated individuals who have a known exposure to someone with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 and remain asymptomatic for symptoms of COVID-19 do not need to quarantine (See above for masking and testing guidance)
Duration of quarantine for unvaccinated individuals following exposure to someone with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 is determined by local guidelines. The following are consistent with current CDC guidelines:
— Quarantine may end after day 10 without testing if patient is asymptomatic
— Quarantine may end after 7 days if patient is asymptomatic and obtains a negative molecular PCR test on days 5-7
Isolation procedures for positive tests:
Isolation is required for anyone who tests positive for COVID-19. Isolation is maintained for at least 10 days from the onset of either positive test or symptoms of COVID-19 AND minimum of 24 hours afebrile without use of antipyretics and improvement of respiratory symptoms. An isolated individual may not participate in physical training or team training activities.
Bottom line:
The season will be much easier — not to mention safer — for vaccinated players and staff.
In the spirit of creative TV deals: Could the future be something like the Big Ten and Pac-12 not only forming a scheduling alliance but also go to market together on all media rights but keep conferences separate? Would this create higher prices (aka: the NFL) or would it water things down? — @PlumisG
An excellent question, and one that has surfaced periodically in Hotline conversations with sources in the media industry.
Clearly, the leagues aren’t receiving maximum value for their media rights under the current negotiating practices. There are five major conferences on the supply side and three major networks on the demand side. (I’m excluding NBC, which only carries Notre Dame.)
Ideally, that would be flipped: The rights would be pooled and taken to the open market, where four or five networks would provide the demand and the price would skyrocket.
That’s the NFL model: One entity on the supply side (the 32 teams) and five on the demand side (CBS, FOX, NBC, ESPN and Amazon).
I wouldn’t discount the potential for the conferences to eventually pool rights for a small, specific package of games. But an all-in pooling approach doesn’t seem realistic.
The Hotline loves pondering how the chess pieces might move. Thanks for the question.
Are there any Pac-12 schools thinking of dropping out of the conference because they can’t compete? Especially if the cost to remain begins to escalate? — @BearFlagFan
Nothing shocks the Hotline; we’ve been at this for too long. But that would shock me.
And I’d question whether any schools believe they cannot compete.
If you’re thinking of Washington State, the Cougars were a top-10 team three years ago.
If you’re thinking of Oregon State, the Beavers beat Oregon on the field last season and were one game from the Final Four.
Colorado won the South in 2016. Utah contends every year. Arizona has struggled in recent years but has a major basketball brand.
No school “can’t compete”. It’s just that the margin for error (with recruiting, injuries and staff decisions) varies substantially.
If USC joined the SEC (not likely, but they’d make $40 million more per year), is the Pac-12 done? — @EdYooper
I don’t know about “done,” but it would be severely weakened — to the point that other schools undoubtedly would consider leaving the conference, as well. (Hello, UCLA, Oregon and Washington.)
But there is zero indication the Trojans want to leave.
Quite the opposite, in fact: Athletic director Mike Bohn wants USC to take a leadership role in the conference, not only on the field but in setting policy and strategy.
Meanwhile, commissioner George Kliavkoff is well aware of the need to keep his most valuable program happy and is working diligently at the relationship.
(More on that can be found here.)
While there’s been much discussion about the Pac-12 considering Big 12 leftovers, what are your thoughts on the one remaining Texas school in the Central Time Zone that has more value to the Pac-12 than any of the remaining Big 12 schools: Houston. Huge market; recruiting hotbed; R1 research university. — @jdhouston2000
My thoughts are that if the Pac-12’s existence depended on adding two schools, Houston and Kansas should be at, or near, the top of the list.
But this is not an existential crisis for the conference, so the flaws with both (football brand, geography, culture and politics) offset the benefits.
I would be mildly surprised if the Pac-12 decides to add any schools.
Any chance that the new Pac-12 commissioner could make a deal with the new DirecTV? With AT&T out of the management structure it seems like something could happen. — Steve Young
The Pac-12 has regular conversations with DirecTV and other possible distribution partners, but nothing is imminent.
In fact, the prospects for a deal in the next two or three years — before all the media rights are renegotiated — are darn close to non-existent.
In other words, nothing has changed from last year, or the year before, or the year before.
Oregon State has already imposed a mask mandate at games. Will this eventually be conference-wide? — @realSWB
I wouldn’t be surprised. Los Angeles County has done the same, and others might follow quickly (e.g., the Bay Area health authorities) if the Delta wave continues to rise.
Logistically, mask mandates are easier to manage than proof of vaccine, particularly for the operations staffs responsible for stadium entry.
Either way, there could be some impact on attendance, and therefore on budgets. But no matter what happens, it will be a massive upgrade over last year.
What is the vaccination rate for all 12 teams? — @DavidWa29043090
We published all the available vaccination rates this week. But since that point, Arizona announced an increase to 100%. (Well done, Wildcats.)
UCLA, Washington and Colorado are close to 100%, with Utah, USC, Oregon, Oregon State and Stanford not far behind, followed by WSU.
Arizona State and Cal unfortunately declined to provide data.
We expected as much from ASU — the school has been a black hole for COVID information since the pandemic began — but Cal’s stance is disappointing.
The full list can be found here.
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