Fans and talk-radio hosts know that the Pac-12 has been second-rate and minor-league in terms of giving its games and its overall product the biggest possible platform.
The Pac-12 Network did not work out for revenue sports. It was and is great for the Olympic sports, but that’s never the primary reason for a conference network’s existence. It’s not what a conference commissioner is primarily required to achieve on the job.
The DirecTV mess removed Pac-12 Network from a lot of American households. The conference’s level of national visibility has suffered to a considerable extent. Larry Scott made the Pac-12 a laughingstock in the world of college sports.
Because of this reality, George Kliavkoff has to balance two competing needs with his media rights deal. He does need to get a competitive price point and offer significant revenue to member schools. That’s one part of the equation. However, he also needs to improve the exposure of the conference.
Given that the Pac-12 is likely to pursue a digital deal with Apple or Amazon — a foray into streaming to boost revenue but not necessarily mainstream exposure — the conference will also need an arrangement which solves the exposure problem which has dogged the Pac-12 for a long time.
This is where the ACC’s recent TV deal with The CW Network comes into the picture. The ACC got a small amount of revenue from the deal, but it will get a noticeable boost in exposure. That was the play. The move was more about the exposure side than the revenue side.
Pac-12 columnist John Canzano, at his Substack, commented on the ACC-CW deal:
“It was a distribution play by the ACC. It solved an ongoing visibility problem for that conference and will sprinkle a little revenue over the members,” Canzano wrote. “Everyone in America can get the CW. The network will broadcast 50 football and basketball games a year until 2026-27. Next season, the CW will air 13 football games, 28 men’s basketball games, and nine women’s basketball games. It will sweeten the revenue pot a little, but it was more of an exposure move.
“The dirty secret? We all know that the Pac-12 would have been mocked for doing the exact same deal. I think the ACC’s deal with CW probably served to underscore that point, too.”
The Pac-12 can’t just solve one part of its problems. The conference has to solve both the revenue and exposure problems in its media rights deal.
Pac-12 media day is Friday, July 21. Follow us for extensive coverage.
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