Tag: larry scott

New USC YouTube show identifies key reasons the Pac-12 died

.@LBCTrojan has a new #USC show at the @VoiceOfCFB. He notes a key moment in March of 2017 which led to the #Pac12’s death.

Rick Anaya is the co-host with Tim Prangley of Trojan Conquest Live, one of multiple shows on the USC channel at The Voice of College Football. You can watch Rick and Tim on Sundays and can soon catch them on the USC football postgame show, following each Trojan football game this season. The first USC postgame show will be right after the San Jose State game on August 26.

Rick Anaya wanted to create his own standalone USC show in addition to Trojan Conquest Live. He unveiled his new YouTube show last week, called “Trojans Talk On Tap.”

In this premier episode, Rick traces the timeline of events which led to the death of the Pac-12 as we know it. You’re aware of a lot of these events, so we’re not going to lay out the full list of important moments. We will, however, mention one event Rick brought up. It’s an overlooked moment which caused the Pac-12’s eventual destruction.

Rick very astutely pointed out the three-year contract extension the Pac-12 CEO Group gave to Larry Scott in March of 2017. Scott had utterly whiffed on getting the Pac-12 Network a DirecTV deal and other deals on visible distribution platforms. His Pac-12 Network dream had essentially died. The plan, the vision, for maximizing revenue through Pac-12 Network had failed.

There was no good reason to give Scott that three-year extension. One year later, in 2018, the Pac-12 (led by Scott) rejected ESPN’s offer to take over distribution of the Pac-12 Network. Those two events are linked, and they are central to the death of the Pac-12. Rick delivered a very smart, thoughtful overview of how the Pac-12 arrived at this disastrous state of affairs.

Be on the lookout for the next episode of “Trojans Talk On Tap” with Rick Anaya, and be sure to subscribe to, like, and share the USC YouTube channel at The Voice of College Football.

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USC fans, ready for the Big Ten, get one last example of Pac-12 incompetence

This Colorado mess could be the end of the #Pac12. It’s a final reminder why #USC fans eagerly wanted out and won’t look back.

As this article is published Thursday morning (just after 10 a.m.) in Los Angeles, the door hasn’t officially closed on the Pac-12. However, all indications are that the conference is about to suffer a crippling blow at some point in the next 30 hours. Colorado is expected to leave the Pac-12 for the Big 12, as Buffaloes Wire has noted.

One week ago, Pac-12 insiders were super confident not only that a deal would be reached, but that it also would be very competitive with the Big 12’s price point for its member schools. Sources said the Pac-12 CEO Group’s “patience is about to pay off.” Sources said “it will be worth the wait.”

Waiting was viewed as necessary and good. Commissioner George Kliavkoff said the longer the process went on, the better it was for the Pac-12.

Well, here we are. It should have been a warning sign — an indication of trouble — when Colorado’s athletic director, Rick George, stormed out of the Pac-12 media day event on Friday after George Kliavkoff’s disastrous press conference and public remarks.

USC fans, knowing they have a safe and lucrative home in the Big Ten next year, are feeling quite affirmed. They escaped the sinking ship just in time. They never had to worry about their future — not when the move to the Big Ten was announced one year ago. They and other West Coast college sports fans reacted to the news of the Pac-12’s possible implosion and extinction:

Big Ten is dealing with a mess its former commissioner left behind

A commissioner bungled a TV deal … but it’s not Larry Scott. Fortunately for #USC, the Trojans won’t have to deal with Kevin Warren.

Here is a story of a conference commissioner being sloppy and ineffective, and it does not involve Larry Scott. It turns out that when former Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren arranged the TV deals for the new era of the conference, with USC and UCLA as incoming members, that “arrangement” was very loose and not tied down with specifics.

Pete Thamel of ESPN came out earlier this week with a report on just how dysfunctional Warren’s handling of TV contracts was.

Here’s a small snippet from Thamel’s story, which illustrates a portion of the fallout from this mess the Big Ten and new commissioner Tony Petitti are scrambling to contain:

“They are going to have to pay back nearly $40 million to Fox because, according to sources, Warren delivered NBC the Big Ten football title game in 2026 without the full authority to do so. This all has unfolded under the complicated backdrop of the Big Ten conference not actually controlling the rights to the inventory of this latest deal — the Big Ten Network does, which is majority owned by Fox. (More on that below.)”

Basically, unfinished TV contracts and unclarified terms which some Big Ten schools are unhappy with are leading to a nasty combination: On one hand, the Big Ten is having to pay back some of its TV partners. On the other hand, the full value of previously negotiated — but uncompleted — TV deals might not be realized. Big Ten schools and athletic departments are confronting the reality that previous budgetary projections exceed actual incoming revenue.

Yes, the Big Ten is still going to make a ton of money for its member schools, but no one likes, wants or needs to receive a set of projections and then realize the actual numbers will be several millions of dollars short, quite possibly tens of millions short.

This is Kevin Warren’s mess. Larry Scott can relate. Tony Petitti is playing the role of George Kliavkoff, trying to clean up what his predecessor left behind.

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Pac-12 gave Larry Scott a sweet severance package, one more operational failure

The Pac-12 did pay more $ to members. It cut costs. But: It still lags behind other Power Fives … and Larry Scott made out like a bandit.

Whatever else you might think about Pac-12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff, this much can be acknowledged: He had a very big mess to clean up in the Pac-12, a mess so big it wasn’t going to be taken care of in one year on the job.

Kliavkoff is approaching the two-year anniversary (July 1) of his arrival in Pac-12 offices. USC and UCLA left for the Big Ten the day before the first anniversary of his tenure. The gears were in motion. The process which carried the Trojans out of the Pac-12 had already begun to take flight before Kliavkoff could really do everything in his power to keep USC in the fold. Pac-12 instability is not his fault; it’s the fault of his predecessor, Larry Scott.

That’s why new details on Pac-12 finances, collected and analyzed by Jon Wilner of the Wilner Hotline, are so noteworthy. We start with an item on Larry Scott himself:

Larry Scott isn’t leaving the Pac-12 news cycle, and that’s clearly not good

Remember the Pac-12’s overpayment scandal? A new plot twist has emerged, and it involves Larry Scott.

These are not good times for the Pac-12 Conference. The media rights deal hasn’t been finalized, a sign that the conference doesn’t have a price point it had hoped for. The NCAA Tournaments were a bust in both men’s and women’s basketball. The conference still didn’t make the College Football Playoff last year. USC and UCLA are on their way out one year from now.

Add this latest Larry Scott story to the list, as reported by Jon Wilner of the Wilner Hotline:

“Former Pac-12 executives Mark Shuken and Brent Willman have filed a wrongful termination complaint against the conference following their dismissals for their roles in the Comcast overpayment scandal.

“Shuken, the former president of the Pac-12 Networks, and Willman, the Pac-12’s former CFO, were terminated on Jan. 20 for failing to properly report millions of dollars in overpayments made by Comcast to the Pac-12 Networks.

“But the complaint alleges they did, in fact, properly report the issue — they repeatedly told then-commissioner Larry Scott about the situation after it was discovered in December 2017, and Scott told them ‘not to say or do anything.’”

“The overpayments continued for years and are believed to have totaled $5 million annually over the course of a decade, before Comcast discovered them in 2022. They have left the Pac-12 schools at significant financial risk, with Comcast expected to withhold approximately $50 million in revenue distributions to the networks — or $4.2 million per school — until the expiration of its contract in the summer of 2024.”

George Kliavkoff is trying to clean up this mess. One wonders how much of a residual effect these problems have had on Kliavkoff as he tries to strike a deal which works for the conference.

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Uncertain times in Pac-12 as conference tries to handle scandal

George Kliavkoff is trying to clean up one more mess Larry Scott left behind. Will this stop a media rights deal or the addition of San Diego State?

A few weeks ago, a new story emerged about a years-old scandal in the Pac-12. Several years ago, two men hired by Larry Scott failed to do their jobs properly. George Kliavkoff and the new regime in the Pac-12 Conference unearthed this reality and fired those two men on Friday, January 20.

We made note of this, writing that “Pac-12 Networks president Mark Shuken and CFO Brent Willman were both hired under Larry Scott’s watch. They were dismissed by Pac-12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff on Friday, with approval from the Pac-12 Board of Directors, for failing to report overpayments from a media distribution partner.

“It’s a tangled story, but the heart of it is that the overpayments were supposed to be reported to the Pac-12 Board of Directors and sent through the appropriate channels, and they weren’t. The overpayments distorted the budgetary realities for the conference and its member schools.”

One has to wonder how harmful this scandal is — and will be — given that the Pac-12 and Kliavkoff have not yet nailed down a new media rights deal, and have not yet extended an offer to San Diego State or any other school to join the conference.

Is this scandal getting in the way of urgent business for the Pac-12?

We talked to Mark Rogers at The Voice of College Football:

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Mysteries and lingering questions surrounding overpayment scandal as Pac-12 tries to sort things out

While we wonder if this scandal will have any effect on possible media rights negotiations, the first priority is to simply get answers to unresolved questions.

George Kliavkoff has had to clean up many messes left behind by Larry Scott and various events which occurred during Scott’s tenure. He now has another headache to deal with: the emerging overpayment scandal which happened under Scott’s watch.

News of this story broke a few days ago. The general timeline of events is known, but now all sorts of detailed questions remain unanswered, and the Pac-12 needs to get more facts to piece together how this happened.

Jon Wilner of the Wilner Hotline is asking the pertinent questions:

“What prompted the networks to seek the initial audit, by the “industry-leading” firm, in the spring of 2017? Was that simply part of a routine practice? Was there something amiss?”, Wilner wrote.

“If the overpayments were only for “each year since prior to 2016,” why did the distributor not step forward until October 2022? (Possible answer: The Pac-12 never came clean to the partner about the overpayments.)

“Did the overpayments continue after 2016, until the partner stepped forward in October 2022?

“We’re also left to wonder why Willman and Shuken didn’t take what the Pac-12 believed would have been appropriate steps once they learned of the situation. Did the overpayments lead to a revenue figure that somehow triggered performance bonuses for executives?

“’It doesn’t make any sense,’ said a Hotline source familiar with the Pac-12 Networks’ business operation. ‘Something is definitely missing.’

“The other question, of course, is the disclosure piece: Who else knew? Or did Shuken and Willman keep the situation to themselves?

“According to the Pac-12, Willman and Shuken failed to share ‘the ongoing financial risk associated with the apparent overpayment with either the Pac-12 Board of Directors or the Pac-12’s external auditors.’”

“That statement says nothing about whether they alerted former commissioner Larry Scott.

“Is that because they did alert him and Scott failed to act appropriately? Or because the Pac-12’s public disclosure on Friday was intended to focus only on the executives and process with current relevance?”

Wilner’s questions require answers. We will see how this story develops.

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Two Pac-12 executives originally hired by Larry Scott are fired in overpayment scandal

Pac-12 Networks president Mark Shuken and CFO Brent Willman, both products of the Larry Scott era, were terminated by George Kliavkoff and the Pac-12 Board of Directors.

Ever since USC announced it was leaving for the Big Ten, nothing has happened which would make the Trojans stop and reconsider their decision. Just about everything which has transpired since June 30, 2022, has affirmed the belief that leaving the Pac-12 is good for USC.

We just saw another instance of this on Friday, as an ethics scandal rocked the conference and led to two dismissals of Pac-12 executives.

Pac-12 Networks president Mark Shuken and CFO Brent Willman were both hired under Larry Scott’s watch. They were dismissed by Pac-12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff on Friday, with approval from the Pac-12 Board of Directors, for failing to report overpayments from a media distribution partner.

It’s a tangled story, but the heart of it is that the overpayments were supposed to be reported to the Pac-12 Board of Directors and sent through the appropriate channels, and they weren’t. The overpayments distorted the budgetary realities for the conference and its member schools. Now this mess has to be sorted out.

How much are the overpayments, you ask? Over $50 million, according to a timeline produced by an investigation by independent outside legal counsel to the Pac-12.

Jon Wilner of the Wilner Hotline produced a detailed story on this scandal. You should read the whole thing.

The Pac-12 released a statement:

“Earlier today, the Pac-12 terminated the employment of two senior executives, effective immediately. This action was taken following an investigation conducted by independent outside legal counsel. The terminations resulted from a failure by those two executives to disclose material information to the Pac-12 Board of Directors and external Pac-12 auditors in connection with overpayments by a Pac-12 Networks distribution partner dating back to 2016,” the conference wrote.

“The Pac-12 took immediate and appropriate action to address this matter, consistent with best governance practices. Pac-12 leadership is committed to supporting our members and student-athletes, and always operating at the highest level of professionalism.”

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From the start, Larry Scott didn’t understand the importance of football to the Pac-12

The Athletic’s oral history of Pac-12 Network clearly shows that Larry Scott failed to grasp the significance of making the network a football-first operation.

Pac-10 Commissioner Tom Hansen ruled the conference for over a quarter of a century. Hansen was known for valuing the Olympic sports but not understanding — or putting enough effort into — building the Pac’s football brand.

Larry Scott was supposed to be different, but it’s striking how similar to Hansen he became.

This is affirmed in The Athletic’s oral history of Pac-12 Network:

(Former UCLA coach and Pac-12 Network analyst Rick) Neuheisel: I said we need to have some good (football) games if we’re going to make people find the game. It was actually the same strategy the SEC Network employed when they started their network. Remember that South Carolina-Texas A&M game? That was on their channel. The ACC did the same thing when they started that opening weekend with all those conference games, making sure that people had to tune in.

(Former Pac-12 Network programming director Mark) Petix: I will never forget this. On one of (DirecTV’s) FAQ pages, they said, “We do not have any carriage deal with the Pac-12 Networks at this time. However, we can assure you the bulk of quality Pac-12 games can be seen on Fox and ESPN,” and then listed out the scores in weeks 1-3 of the games that were on Pac-12 Networks.  And it was one of the strongest flexes I’ve seen. It was bullet points of (blowout scores). You didn’t see a close result. [The average margin for all games aired by the network through its first five seasons was 23.7 points.]

Michael K. Young, Washington president (2011-15): The design was to make available (football) games of marginal interest. It sounds kind of insulting, but games that were not necessarily going to be picked up by ESPN. … And then to pick up an awful lot of the subsidiary sports.

It is worth noting that Larry Scott’s wayward vision, clearly not in step with the long-term needs of the conference, was not corrected by conference presidents. Scott drove the conference into its current position, but conference administrators didn’t put a halt to these bad decisions. That has to be pointed out.

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USC’s reasons for leaving the Conference of Champions aren’t complicated

TrojansWire.com editor Matt Zemek says USC had a hundred million reasons for leaving the conference.

So after a century of history and tradition and a lot of domination on the gridiron, why would USC suddenly decide to leave the Pac-12 for the Big Ten?

This decision seemingly came out of left field and to make it worse, the Trojans and Bruins pretty much were holding hands and walking into the sunset that was the Pac-12. The two biggest schools took their ball and the biggest market on the West Coast for greener pastures. Now the other schools, including Oregon, are left scrambling.

It’s couldn’t have been just about the money, right? We went to USC insider and friend of the site, editor of TrojansWire.com Matt Zemek, for some answers. According to him, this wasn’t all that complicated.

It’s money.

UCLA in particular was drowning in debt. USC wasn’t in debt, but the Trojans stood to make tens of millions more dollars in the Big Ten. If any school president is offered several tens of millions of dollars each year, is that president going to say no? USC and UCLA are going to get a full share of Big Ten revenue. They stand to make at or above $100 million per year under a TV deal currently estimated to be worth $1.143 billion according to recent reporting from Pac-12 journalists and their sources within the media industry. USC was not going to turn that down.

Zemek also said that our old “friend” and former Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott was so bad at his job at negotiating the conference’s media deal that that those chickens are coming home to roost in the seeming demise of the Pac-12.

Larry Scott simply devalued the Pac-12 so much that USC didn’t have much of a choice. Scott also failed to tether the Pac-12 to ESPN when he had a chance in 2018. If he had done that, USC and UCLA would still be in the Pac-12.

Bottom line: it came down to the Benjamins and USC and UCLA just hit the lottery with the Big Ten. The Los Angeles schools had a choice of walking away from the cash or the conference. They made the smart move and took the money.

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