The Pac-12 feels good about where it stands. Why? Something seems to be happening underneath the surface, relative to its media rights negotiations. That’s number one. Another separate piece of good news has emerged for the conference as well.
Sports Business Journal publisher and editor Abraham Madkour wrote the following earlier this week:
“Endeavor’s Karen Brodkin and Hillary Mandel are advising the NCAA on deciding which championships to pull out of the current bundled package and sell on their own. It seems like a certainty that the women’s basketball tournament will be sold as a stand-alone after it drew record ratings this past April. But what else? The women’s and men’s College World Series both rated very well, and women’s gymnastics and volleyball also have audiences. Supporters of these sports are advocating for them to be pulled out and sold individually. The fear is that if the NCAA pulls out too many popular sports, the package will become so diluted it will lose any value and defeats the purpose of maximizing rights fees and distribution. Remember, these are only for the championships — not the regular season or the conference championships. It’s limited inventory and that’s what the NCAA and Endeavor will have to navigate as they go to the marketplace. The NCAA will first negotiate with incumbent ESPN before going to the open marketplace if they don’t agree to terms. Talks are expected to unfold later this year.”
We and Pac-12 insider Jon Wilner have both written multiple stories about this issue, explaining how advantageous it would be to the Pac-12 to get a standalone Women’s NCAA Tournament which is de-coupled from other NCAA sports championships. The Women’s NCAA Tournament would generate a lot of dollars, given how much the sport is rising in popularity right now thanks to Caitlin Clark of Iowa and Angel Reese of LSU and last spring’s record-setting Final Four, a TV ratings smash hit.
The Pac-12 has been very good in women’s basketball for a long time. It put seven teams in the 2023 Women’s NCAA Tournament, including USC. If the Women’s NCAA Tournament becomes a standalone media rights property, the NCAA’s system of win units used for the men’s tournament would be able to be implemented in the women’s tournament.
Imagine the Pac-12 putting three or four teams in the Sweet 16, and one team in the Final Four, as it has often done over the past 10 years. That’s a lot of accumulated win units and a lot of added revenue the conference hasn’t been able to get under the existing system. Revenue growth through women’s basketball would be significant under a standalone Women’s NCAA Tournament. That’s a lot of added cash for the Pac-12 in the future, and not a moment too soon.
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