Pac-10 spends money on Times Square billboard

Larry Scott, the commissioner of the Pac-10, is trying to change that. On Tuesday, he will unveil a wide-ranging effort to raise the conference’s profile outside the western United States. The marketing blitz will include for the first time interviews on the East Coast with conference coaches, which begin this week, and new logos, television commercials and billboard advertisements promoting the Pac-10 in Times Square and elsewhere. The branding campaign comes a year before the Pac-10’s television contracts expire. It also follows months of jockeying by the largest conferences to add teams with the aim of increasing their leverage in negotiations. The Pac-10, for instance, will add Utah and Colorado. Scott and other Pac-10 officials say they hope that by increasing their nationwide exposure, they will be able to secure deals in line with other major conferences and potentially start their own cable television network similar to what the Big Ten has done. “The Pac-10 is a long way off from where other conferences are,” Scott said. “Our coming to New York is indicative of our telling our story differently and signals that this isn’t your grandfather’s conference and we’re not going to lay back and let people form their own assumptions.” — NY Times