Is it a good thing that the Pac-12 still hasn’t announced a new TV deal? That is what George Kliavkoff wants the media to believe.
Speaking at the conference’s media day in Las Vegas, the conference commissioner told reporters that it was a conscious decision not to have any information to share about new TV partners.
“We are not announcing the TV deal today on purpose because I want the focus to be on football,” he said according to reporters in the Las Vegas room.
Reports last week indicated that the conference was hoping to announce a TV deal on Friday to open the event. Kliavkoff says that the fact that did not happen could be advantageous for the conference in the end.
“The longer we wait for our media deal the better our options are.”
At this point, so much information has been in the media about what networks are involved in discussions with the conference and which ones are not, that it is hard to tell who is working on a deal and how close it is.
Past reports have indicated that several schools began considering their options last year when USC and UCLA announced they were leaving the Pac-12 and going to the Big Ten. Uncertainty about the conference’s TV future has only added fuel to that speculation.
Kliavkoff said that he is not worried about any other schools looking for a new conference. In fact, if not for the exit of the two Southern California schools, the fact that a new media rights deal hasn’t been announced wouldn’t even be a story.
“We are on track to announce our deal the same time everyone would have anticipated before realignment,” he said. “The patience will be rewarded.”
