If one understands this and this ...
Then you understand this as a function of this.
Then you also understand our desire to preserve rights to and grow this is not just about money.
The bottom line:
The Longhorn Network, as outlined in the DMN article, is a property that should be worth 10 million dollars, but it has additional value that is not easily quantified. Despite Bill Byrne's laughable caution in his Weekly Cry For Help that programming such a network with 168 hours of content would prove difficult (and it would, were we Bill Byrne), so much of what the network would be about is raw, unfiltered coverage - press conferences, post-game wrap ups, previews, coordinator shows, showing secondary sports, Greatest Games Ever, nostalgia, and even interesting academic lecture series from visting notables or in-house studs like Steve Weinberg.
These are programming lay-ups. However, the Longhorn Network's value will not just be monetary. It's equally valuable as a proselytizing and propoganda tool.
The favorable demographic trends that favor Texas recruiting have, if anything accelerated since I discussed them last because of the nation's economic collapse and Texas' adherence to reasonably sane governing principles. In addition to the nation-leading growth of the Dallas Metroplex, where established and dominant high school football programs abound, the maximization of Central Texas and San Antonio talent continues.
You've probably noticed the increasing number of elite recruits from Austin and San Antonio and it's not a coincidence. The movement of the black lower and middle class to the Austin and San Antonio suburbs for affordable housing, solid schools, and professional opportunity, has given their kids a chance to maximize talent.
Further, the Westlake model has been duplicated (and eclipsed) from Smithson Valley to Cedar Park to Lake Travis. Now every wealthy suburb wants its own prestige program. In San Antonio, the same trends are being abetted and potentiated by the growth of the military. Kids come into Texas at age 14 with their parents, and adopt a local interest in the Longhorns. The Horns have essentially performed out of state recruiting, but where the material moves to us.
Now you just need to convert them.
Part of the idea of the Longhorn Network is not just about money and feeding our rabid base of established supporters more content, it's also about further branding the Texas Longhorns in the minds of neutrals, newcomers, fence sitters, and t-shirt fans. More airtime for Mack Brown, Rick Barnes, Augie Garrido; a hour long interview with Duane Akina and Will Muschamp; lengthy in-depth player interviews with our most charismatic players like the Acho brothers - this is as much interesting fan content as it is an infomercial for Texas, Inc. It's the business of building idols.
When Will Muschamp gets to make an in-home to a recruit every week via the Longhorn Network, opposing schools are fighting an uphill battle. The Longhorn Network? The Longhorn Infomercial.