The Pac-12: Death by 1,000 Cuts and a “$” sign
Ed Stein
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This week, the Pac-12 is in the news for the wrong reasons. Many pundits are predicting the conference’s demise.
Time is up, the ship is taking on water, and sharks are circling, ready to swallow up bodies. Unfortunately, this isn’t the plot of a movie; it’s the current state of the Pac-12 Conference.
We could go through the timeline of how the Conference of Champions has sunk this low. But instead of throwing people under the bus, let’s look at some key indicators.
Remember, basketball is important, but football drives this bus. Hoops brings in a fifth of what football does.
Media Rights
The Pac-12’s contracts with ESPN and Fox expire after the next academic year. Since starting as the Pac-12 Commissioner on July 1, 2021, one of George Kliavkoff’s main priorities has been to negotiate the next conference’s television rights package.
We are at the beginning of March 2023, and the Pac-12 still has no new deal. Even worse, there doesn’t appear to be anything monumental on the horizon.
No one expected them to compete with the Southeastern and Big Ten contracts. Now they are shuffled behind the ACC and Big 12. Worse, the major linear networks, ESPN, FOX, NBC, and CBS, are committed through most of the decade.
As far as a big streaming package goes, Amazon is playing hardball; YouTube bought the rights to the NFL Sunday Ticket; and Apple + has a new deal with Major League Soccer.
The odds of finding a white night to at least compete with the Big 12’s six-year, $2.2B contract with ESPN and FOX. Going back to kindergarten musical chairs, the music stopped, and Kliavkoff doesn’t have a seat. Further, it looks like there isn’t a hero around to save the day.