Pac-12 Presidents Cut Conference Office Budget. Is Larry Scott's Job in Jeopardy?
The Pac-12 office reportedly has been ordered to make salary cuts, and there is even some discussion of ending Larry Scott's role as commissioner before his contract expires.
The report, from John Canzano of the Oregonian, indicates that the Pac-12 CEO Group, which consists of the conference’s chancellors and presidents, have made budget modifications that will require conference employees making $100,000 or more to take a pay cut of 5 to 10%.
The news was relayed to Pac-12 officials earlier this month, and the cuts will be in effect for at least the next 12 months. The Pac-12 office is located in San Francisco.
Scott makes $5.3 million and indicated in the email distributed to conference employees that he is taking a 12% cut. He would still be making $4.664 million.
One long-time Pac-12 employee told the Oregonian this: “You do the math. people are trying to survive in SF. Simply put, (Scott) should have cut his salary in half and saved the staff from cuts that crush staffers.”
Perhaps the most significant news in the Oregonian report was this:
Also, it sparked internal conversations over the Fourth of July weekend about whether the Pac-12 CEO Group -- the conference’s chancellors and presidents -- might make an early move on Scott. His contract expires in the summer of 2022. The conference’s media rights contracts expire in 2024, and that date has long been viewed as the target opportunity for the Pac-12 to close the gap with its Power Five Conference peers when it comes to both exposure limitations and revenue shortfalls.
“There’s serious talk amongst the Pac-12 CEO Group to end his contract ahead of the expiration date to have a fighting chance to save the (conference) Networks,” a high-level Pac-12 employee told the Oregoninan.
The Pac-12 Networks, which were created during Scott's time as commissioner, are not as lucrative as the conference had hoped, according to the Oregonian:
The Pac-12 Networks reach fewer than 18 million households, a fraction of the audience other conferences enjoy. It generates tens of millions less in annual revenue for each conference member, too. That makes the network a prime area of focus for cost cuts. As a result, eight percent of the network staffers were laid off in April. Those who remained employed in April were given pay reductions.
Scott is the highest-paid conference commissioner in the country, and only two of the original Pac-12 university presidents who hired him (UCLA, Arizona State) are still in power.
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