Saw this posted by someone named Dignin Andersen on the Pure Orange FB group. I think it is worth considering - offer full behind the scenes access with editorial controls of some sort. Recruits and players would eat this up and it would offer maximum visibility too - plus some revenue! Thoughts?
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Any thoughts on a Documentary?
There’s a story to tell here. Not just about OSU but about the dissolution of the PAC 12 (one of the most storied conferences in the history college sports) and the changing landscape of college athletics as a hole. About the inequities and hypocrisies of a multibillion dollar industry built on the sweat equity of student athletes and at the expense of fans everywhere while TV execs and the fat cats rake in the profits. It’s a story about tradition giving way to profit.
We’re constantly being reminded that Oregon State has no leverage here, that we’re too far out west, that we don’t have a desirable TV market or a large enough fan base. We don’t have a ‘BRAND’. I’ll let other argue over that. I do know that in the last week alone I’ve seen at least a half dozen articles online from some major outlets all making the case for OSU being the team you need to root for this year if you’re a fan of college sports and don’t’ like the direction it’s moving. The dissolution of the PAC 12 is a major national story and, all the negatives aside for a moment, it’s provided the Beavers with a lot of social capital suddenly. We need to find a way to capitalize on that.
Maybe there’s room for a deal with Apple after all. Not a media rights deal for game broadcasts, at least not yet anyway. But how about rights to the documentary about the 2023 season. Call it ‘The Last Season’. Or maybe, ‘The Last Go Round’. Or better yet, let the creatives out there come up with something.
There’s been a number of great episodic sports documentaries made the last few years by streaming services like Netflix, HBO and Apple. I’m thinking of programs like ‘Hard Knocks’, ‘F1 Drive to Survive’, ‘Full Swing’, ‘Last Chance U’ and one of my personal favorites ‘Sunderland ‘Til I Die’ about a once storied franchise in British Premiere League Soccer that’s fallen on hard times and has been relegated into obscurity and their fight to remain relevant. It’s a good one; check it out.
If Apple is looking to get a foothold into the college football world maybe this would be a good place to start. Oregon State football 2023; the coaches and student athletes, the fans and their community. I have a feeling this team could be special and I know I’m not the only one thinking it. If things break the way we all hope they do, it could be one of the best in school history. Maybe bigger. It could be like capturing magic in a bottle. The final season of a perennial underdog being cast aside for profit while they make a run for the ages and become the darlings of college football world. One last great season.
That in itself would make for a great story but might only play to BeaverNation. To capture a broader audience like college football fans across the country or sports fans around the world (The way ‘F1, Drive to Survive’ or ‘Sunderland…’ did for me) it needs to be bigger. In the documentary I imagine OSU and BeaverNation would serve as an avatar into the broader story of the changing landscape of college sports as a hole. How it was and where we’re going. Who wins and who loses; I’d argue the student athletes and the fans. What we are leaving behind as the powers that be bulldoze their way forward to capture market shares. A holistic examination of the state of college sports week by week as we follow one team’s path to glory… or oblivion.
Maybe we’re just the team for that job. The hardnosed, blue collar, earn what you get, never say die, never quiet, Beavers with a nation of believers by their side. Maybe this is our ‘Brand’! The rest of the nation can jump aboard for the ride as we make the industry take a hard look at themselves in the mirror and reevaluate what it’s become.
Maybe there’s still work to be done with Apple TV after all.
Or Netflix, or HBO, or whoever. Anyone got any contacts out there? Let’s greenlight this project!
———-
Any thoughts on a Documentary?
There’s a story to tell here. Not just about OSU but about the dissolution of the PAC 12 (one of the most storied conferences in the history college sports) and the changing landscape of college athletics as a hole. About the inequities and hypocrisies of a multibillion dollar industry built on the sweat equity of student athletes and at the expense of fans everywhere while TV execs and the fat cats rake in the profits. It’s a story about tradition giving way to profit.
We’re constantly being reminded that Oregon State has no leverage here, that we’re too far out west, that we don’t have a desirable TV market or a large enough fan base. We don’t have a ‘BRAND’. I’ll let other argue over that. I do know that in the last week alone I’ve seen at least a half dozen articles online from some major outlets all making the case for OSU being the team you need to root for this year if you’re a fan of college sports and don’t’ like the direction it’s moving. The dissolution of the PAC 12 is a major national story and, all the negatives aside for a moment, it’s provided the Beavers with a lot of social capital suddenly. We need to find a way to capitalize on that.
Maybe there’s room for a deal with Apple after all. Not a media rights deal for game broadcasts, at least not yet anyway. But how about rights to the documentary about the 2023 season. Call it ‘The Last Season’. Or maybe, ‘The Last Go Round’. Or better yet, let the creatives out there come up with something.
There’s been a number of great episodic sports documentaries made the last few years by streaming services like Netflix, HBO and Apple. I’m thinking of programs like ‘Hard Knocks’, ‘F1 Drive to Survive’, ‘Full Swing’, ‘Last Chance U’ and one of my personal favorites ‘Sunderland ‘Til I Die’ about a once storied franchise in British Premiere League Soccer that’s fallen on hard times and has been relegated into obscurity and their fight to remain relevant. It’s a good one; check it out.
If Apple is looking to get a foothold into the college football world maybe this would be a good place to start. Oregon State football 2023; the coaches and student athletes, the fans and their community. I have a feeling this team could be special and I know I’m not the only one thinking it. If things break the way we all hope they do, it could be one of the best in school history. Maybe bigger. It could be like capturing magic in a bottle. The final season of a perennial underdog being cast aside for profit while they make a run for the ages and become the darlings of college football world. One last great season.
That in itself would make for a great story but might only play to BeaverNation. To capture a broader audience like college football fans across the country or sports fans around the world (The way ‘F1, Drive to Survive’ or ‘Sunderland…’ did for me) it needs to be bigger. In the documentary I imagine OSU and BeaverNation would serve as an avatar into the broader story of the changing landscape of college sports as a hole. How it was and where we’re going. Who wins and who loses; I’d argue the student athletes and the fans. What we are leaving behind as the powers that be bulldoze their way forward to capture market shares. A holistic examination of the state of college sports week by week as we follow one team’s path to glory… or oblivion.
Maybe we’re just the team for that job. The hardnosed, blue collar, earn what you get, never say die, never quiet, Beavers with a nation of believers by their side. Maybe this is our ‘Brand’! The rest of the nation can jump aboard for the ride as we make the industry take a hard look at themselves in the mirror and reevaluate what it’s become.
Maybe there’s still work to be done with Apple TV after all.
Or Netflix, or HBO, or whoever. Anyone got any contacts out there? Let’s greenlight this project!
