This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

For reasons that defy explanation, there are a few fans out there who are convinced that BYU is going to end up making a deal with Netflix.

Where, exactly, this idea came from … I have no idea. Apparently, it's been tossed out on some fan boards and taken as something more than wild speculation.

Because, you know, you can believe everything you read on the Internet.

Perhaps the unfounded rumor was given some juice when BYUtv made a deal with Netflix for its original series "Granite Flats." But one has nothing to do with the other.

When yours truly wrote a column debunking the BYU-to-Netflix rumors a few months ago, I was on the receiving end of several strongly worded emails that called me all sorts of names. Like "stupid" and a number of less than family-friendly synonyms.

Not that that's anything new. Nor were the accusations that I'm anti-BYU. To go along with the accusations that I'm anti-Utah, anti-Utah State, and so on and so on.

(Goes with the territory. And it's perversely entertaining on my end.)

Somewhat sheepishly, I asked Netflix's chief content officer, Ted Sarandos — the man in charge of what gets on the streaming service — if there's any chance he would make a deal with BYU or any other college football team.

He kind of looked at me like I was nuts. And, truth be told, I was feeling a little bit crazy for asking the question.

The answer, by the way, was no. And Sarandos had explained why earlier in response to a more general question I'd asked him.

"No, we're not talking sports," he said.

His reasoning was sound. Live sports programming is the antithesis of what Netflix is and Netflix does.

"The great thing about Netflix, I believe, is the on-demandness of Netflix," Sarandos said. "I don't think that really brings a lot to the sports-viewing experience versus watching live, which I think people are really excited about.

"I would say that the real benefit of watching something on Netflix is the consumer control of it, not the kind of group thing of it."

The reason that live sports are so valuable to broadcast and cable TV is that watching sports is so rarely time-shifted. And Netflix is completely about time shifting programming to suit your life.

The great thing about the streaming service is that you can watch what you want, when you want. You can binge-watch an entire series, screen a movie or check out a documentary whenever and wherever you are.

If you're interrupted, you can pause and come back to your program whenever you want. That's not the way we watch sports (except for watching "classic" games on replay.)

Again, it's not like BYU sports is going anywhere anytime soon. The Cougars' football contract with ESPN runs through 2019, and ESPN has an option for 2020. The West Coast Conference's basketball deal with ESPN runs through 2019.

Is it possible something could change in the next four or five years? Certainly. The only thing certain about TV and sports these days is that change is always in the offing.

"I would not rule it out in terms of, we will never do sports," said Sarandos.

But it's not even on his radar at this point. So if anybody tells you that BYU on Netflix is a real possibility, they're just blowing smoke.

And you're not allowed to blow smoke at BYU.

Scott D. Pierce covers TV for The Salt Lake Tribune. Email him at spierce@sltrib.com; follow him on Twitter @ScottDPierce.