Pac-12 inching closer to media rights deal

Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould is happy with the direction of the conference’s ongoing media rights negotiations.

In a recent interview with Sports Business Journal’s Austin Karp that aired on The Sports Media Podcast, Gould said that the response the Pac-12 has received from potential media partners “has been overwhelming.

“It just reinforces what I already knew when I took this job, which was people really care about the Pac-12 brand,” Gould elaborated. “It really means something in the marketplace. The media rights partner interest has been really, really extraordinary. They are pleased with the strength of the conference, top to bottom, competitively. They are pleased with the relevance of the brands that we have, and the interest has just been incredible.”

Gould became Pac-12 Commissioner on March 1, 2024, and was tasked with rebuilding a conference that lost 10 schools to the ACC, Big Ten and Big 12. Only Oregon State and Washington State remained.

Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State of the Mountain West Conference accepted invitations from the Pac-12 in September. West Coast Conference power Gonzaga came aboard Oct. 1, giving the Pac-12 eight schools beginning with the 2026-27 school year.

The Pac-12 must add at least one more football program — Gonzaga does not field a football team — before 2026 to reach the NCAA’s eight-team minimum to qualify as an FBS conference.

Gould said the Pac-12 has spoken with potential media partners for about six weeks.

“We’re really looking for what I call a transformational partnership,” she said. “I don’t want this media rights partnership to be transactional. I want a transformational partner or partners that will jump in with us and help us reimagine and rebuild the Pac-12.”

Gould said the media rights deal will likely be a mixture of linear television and streaming.

“When I talk to our athletic directors and our head coaches, they are really looking to bring in different audiences with different demographics,” she said. “I think for us to meet our aspirational goals in terms of the fandom we want to have around our brands, we’re going to need to see a mixture of both. And that’s the way we’re thinking about it and the way we’re approaching it in the marketplace.”

The Pac-12 signed a deal with The CW to broadcast 11 games in 2024. The CW began airing ACC games in 2023.

Gould said the three most-watched games on The CW this season all featured Pac-12 teams, including a Nov. 23 matchup between Oregon State and Washington State that drew 695,000 viewers. Five of the six highest-rated games on The CW involved Oregon State or Washington State, Gould said.

“By every measurement imaginable, year one of the Pac-12 relationship with the CW surpassed all expectations,” Gould said. “We are very, very pleased with the distribution, the number of eyeballs that tuned in. I think it reinforces what we already knew, which is people still really care about the Pac-12 brand.”

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