Pac-12 receieving 'lukewarm interest' in media rights search
Another day, week, and month have gone by and the Pac-12 has still yet to put together any semblance of a media rights deal.
The conference is still left sitting wondering "what just happened?" following the departures of USC and UCLA to the Big Ten, and also in regards to how the Big 12 was not able to add four programs but also secure their media rights deal so quickly.
The Pac-12 has long expressed optimism that a deal will be done, but according to a recent report by The Athletic, fish aren't taking the bait. Insiders Stewart Mandel and Max Olson reported that the Big 12 is beginning to eye the four corner schools to poach, if George Kliavkoff is unable to secure a deal or one that the programs find adequate. They even went as far to say that the interest in the Pac-12 is not as great as the conference had once hoped saying:
Kliavkoff has been met with lukewarm interest in the marketplace. ESPN, Amazon and Apple are the only known suitors, and any deal will likely put the majority of the league’s events on an over-the-top streaming service. The Athletic’s Richard Deitsch reported there’s interest from Amazon in a weekly Friday night Pac-12 game but that the two sides were “far apart” in February. And the Pac-12’s timing couldn’t be worse. Just since last summer, networks have committed billions in future rights fees to the Big Ten and Big 12, and Disney’s cost-cutting CEO Bob Iger said in February that “we’re simply going to have to get more selective” in sports bidding.
The Pac-12’s average annual value is projected to be around $31 million per school, and they did say that people familiar with the Pac-12’s board members doubt that their schools would switch conferences unless it’s for a substantially better deal. However, if the conference goes another significant period of time without a deal, it will get spooky out west.
