What is going wrong with the Pac-12 media rights deal?

Arguably the biggest storyline of the offseason that isn't in regards to occurrences that will be happening on the field is the Pac-12's ongoing pursuit for a media rights deal.

The conference somehow managed to have the best on-field product it has had in maybe a decade this past season, while also having the worst off the field issues as well. The conference lost USC and UCLA to the Big Ten, which has now made obtaining a media rights deal that they feel adequate that much more difficult.

There have been reports of who is in and who is out, with ESPN, Amazon, and most recently Apple being the last few publicly known entities in the mix. John Ourand of the Sports Business Journal expressed that they may have missed that bus a few months ago, which has been a recurring theme as it has become more and more clear that the conference's desire to wait has cost them.

Ourand's podcast co-host and New York Post writer Andrew Marchand explained what is going wrong for the Pac-12 saying:

“Here’s the problem that the Pac-12 faces. There was a good deal to be had six months ago, back when you were talking about how far apart the two sides were,” Ourand told Marchand. “In the ensuing six months, all of the traditional television stations — CBS, who had been kicking the tires, is out. FOX, which had been kicking the tires, did the Big 12 deal and [CEO Eric] Shanks told us, they’re pretty set with what they want in terms of college. NBC has its Big Ten and primetime, there’s not a lot there. And ESPN is becoming a lot more cost conscious. There are, as you said, must-have programming, which the NBA falls in, the NFL falls in, certain big college conferences fall in. Right now, it doesn’t look like the Pac-12 is falling into that.

He continued saying:

“Then, on the streaming side, all of a sudden, you have Wall Street that is no longer prioritizing gaining subscribers. They want to see profits, whereas you had all of these streaming companies competing against each other to drive up the prices and bidding wars. Now, they have to have a lot more discernment, they have to have a lot more responsibility in terms of what they’re paying so that they’re not overpaying. It’s just a really tough market if you’re a college conference that’s not the Big Ten or the SEC right now.”

The Pac-12 doesn't have the best of options, but they will be able more accessible this time around compared to the product of the Larry Scott era when they lock down a new deal. Expansion is also something that could occur before a deal is struck with the conference adding anywhere from one program in San Diego State, to four.