If the Pac-12 Conference is going to survive, it may be up to ESPN. Reporter John Canzano writes that the conference is waiting for Bristol to make its move in negotiating a new TV deal. He also says plenty of what he has heard from inside the conference makes it clear that ESPN as “the most likely bidder” for the conference’s next media rights package.
The negotiating power for the conference took a hit last month when UCLA and USC announced they were leaving for the Big Ten. It is a move that one executive told Canzano will likely cost the conference $200 million from interested TV partners.
Speculation about the future of college sports’ five “power conferences” lead the Pac-12 to begin its search for a new media deal last week. The hope, likely, is that a new media deal makes the six members rumored to be eyeing a move to the Big 12 more likely to stay put.
A thirty day window is currently in place for the conference to make a decision. If things move faster “depends on our friends in Bristol” a source told Canzano.
Currently, ESPN and FOX hold the Pac-12’s media rights. If either network were to come to a handshake agreement with the conference, the other network would have to waive its rights or submit a bid of its own before anything could be finalized.
Right now, the ten remaining Pac-12 schools are “galvanized” according to Canzano. That is why ESPN may be “the conference’s most intriguing and viable lifeline”.
He notes that the rumored content partnership with the ACC Network could be the key to a bigger programming effort for ESPN, which could see special football and basketball events created to generate revenue and drive up the value of relationships with both conferences.
Canzano points out that the conference is so invested in what ESPN can do for the conference, that a lowball offer from Bristol could destabilize everything.
“The network is essentially playing kingmaker in this 30-day negotiating window. It’s bidding against itself in this round of negotiations because Fox isn’t a likely bidder,” he writes. “Under a lowball scenario, I believe a few Pac-12 universities — particularly Arizona State — might become frustrated and consider alternate options.”
