The Pac-12 Conference still is without a new media rights deal, and it appears that will continue to be the case for several more weeks.
Washington State University president Kirk Schultz recently said part of what’s held up the process for the conference has been the current economic factors in the country, the U.S. is currently experiencing a recession, and layoffs at the major companies the conference is negotiating with.
“If you said when would be the worst time in the last six years to try and negotiate a media deal, probably the last five months is pretty close to the worst,” Schultz told Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News.
Without naming names Schultz indicated that companies like Amazon and ESPN, which have been linked to media rights talks, are in the process of laying off thousands of employees, and announcing a new deal worth millions of dollars while many are losing their livelihoods is not ideal.
“I know at least one of the partners we were talking to said, ‘We’re ready to sign today, but the optics of us announcing that we’re laying off X number of people and we signed a multimillion-dollar deal with the Pac-12 are just not the best, so we’re going to have to wait six weeks,'” Schultz said. “Clearly, the optics are something those folks are really worried about.”
Regardless, talks on a new deal are progressing.
“Our conversations are going well,” Schultz said. “But at the end of the day, if I’m a fan, I’m skeptical until you say, ‘Kirk, make an announcement, tell me the dollar figure, tell me everybody’s signing the grant of rights, and then I’ll leave you alone.’”
Funny how it’s always the WSU or OSU AD saying how wonderful things are. The rest of them are busy trying to convince everyone they have no interest in moving to the Big Ten or Big 12.