The Pac-12 reportedly blew an opportunity for a media rights deal that likely could have avoided the disastrous collapse that has occurred over the last couple of weeks.
The Pac-12 has been one of the biggest stories in college sports over the last few months for all the wrong reasons. Last year, conference powerhouses UCLA and USC shocked the college sports world when they decided to take their legendary brands to the Big-10 in 2024. As disappointing as the news was, it seems like the Pac-12 would be able to take the massive blow and keep chugging along.
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However, doubt started to creep in over the last few months when the conference was unable to find a suitable new media rights deal that satisfied all of its members. Eventually, the leadership was able to agree on a deal recently with AppleTV+ that would have seen each school earn $25 million per year with a subscription-based upside.
Pac-12 passed on a $50 million per school deal from ESPN
Unfortunately for Pac-12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff, that was not what schools were looking for and Oregon and Washington instead sought out greener pastures with the Big-10 and joined UCLA and USC. After their departure was official, they were soon followed out the door by Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah as they all jumped to the Big-12. It was a shocking development that left just four teams in the conference.
However, that all could have possibly been avoided if the conference had taken an offer last year that ended up being better than what the Pac-12 received from AppleTV+. On Friday, College Sports insider John Canzano reported that ESPN offered a deal in the Fall of 2022 that would have seen each school earn $30 million per year.
But the Pac-12’s presidents and chancellors rejected the offer and instead countered with a $50 million per school offer. In hindsight, it is a shocking decision on a basic level since ESPN would be a preferable platform to be on instead of the subscription-based AppleTV+.
Obviously, the chancellors and presidents thought the conference had far more valuable and it turned out to be a legendary miscalculation.