Pac-12 wastes away as SEC gets new 10-year, $3B TV contract
Money, Pac-12 athletic departments say they don’t have enough of it. This week, the SEC signed a 10-year, $3B contract with ESPN on top of their current deal. Meanwhile, Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott says all its sunshine and rainbows while looking for his next payday.
Earlier in the week, my colleague Ed Stein wrote that one of the reasons for replacing the Washington Huskies with Oregon was to make FOX happy by showing a “championship game.” A typical move for Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott.
As he usually does when it comes to television, Scott played poker with a week hand. The Pac-12 easily could have declared USC the conference’s representative in the New Year’s 6, scheduled five games for this week, given them to FOX, and not played a “championship game.” Instead,
Just before that debacle happened, there was a major development in college football. The Southeastern Conference, led by Greg Sanky, who gets a fraction of Scott’s salary, turned the sports world on its ear with a blockbuster $3B, 10-year deal with ABC/ESPN.
Even better for the SEC, this new agreement runs in conjunction with the current 20-year deal they already have in place. As John Canzano of OregonLive put it in an article last weekend, “Sankey doubled down, mid-hand, and walked off with the casino.”
— Southeastern Conference (@SEC) December 10, 2020
Me first
Where was Scott when the money was handed out? Canzano’s article said that Scott’s focus is on getting himself a contract extension past the 2022 expiration. That’s like robbing a bank on Tuesday then coming into the same branch for a loan on Thursday.
An extension? He should be out of a job for mishandling both the Pac-12 network and the conference as a whole.
FOX is about to lock up the Big Ten, and they already have the Big 12. ESPN also has the ACC in hand and even runs their network just like they do the SEC Network. NBC is in business with Notre Dame.
That leaves CBS, who at that point has Scott and his conference at a severe disadvantage. What leverage does the Pac-12 have at that point? Will Pac-12 schools share in a $3B windfall? There isn’t a chance they come within shouting distance.
Scott says he wants an extension so he can negotiate the next television contract when this current deal expires in 2023. No thank you.
Time to take action
The college football landscape is about to undergo huge changes. From players using their name and likeness to earn money to the Power 5 conferences breaking football away from the NCAA. If the Pac-12 keeps going the way it has under Scott’s leadership, the Power 5 will become the Power 4 and Little 1.
His latest performance in front of the camera has to be seen to be believed. Scott said that despite the cancellations, the Pac-12 football season was a success. Also, he is surprised that USC isn’t in contention for the College Football Playoff. Is he trying to convince Pac-12 fans or himself?
It’s time for the Pac-12 CEO group to do something they haven’t shown the ability to do in the recent past, move fast. Conference athletic departments like Washington State are in the red and need an influx of money. They have to dump Larry Scott now and hire a replacement who can use whatever little prestige the Pac-12 football has left to negotiate a good television contract.
After that, the new commish can decide how he wants to handle the cash sucking Pac-12 Network. Not to mention fixing whatever ill-feelings there are between the conference and Directv/AT&T. That’s just the start. There is a laundry list of things that need to be corrected. But the main point is this conference should be a leader in college athletics. Instead, they are a distant follower, holding on to a gravitas it lost several years ago.
Related Story: Pac-12 again shows how unprepared they are for big time football
The machinations that led to the USC-Oregon matchup in the Pac-12 title game are typical of this conference. It's become an afterthought nationally, and Larry Scott should accept the responsibility.
Instead? The sun is shining. Nothing to see here.
— Jim_Alexander (@Jim_Alexander) December 18, 2020
Do you think Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scot deserves a contract extension? Let us know in the comments section below or on social media.