College football’s golden goose is television, and it’s also the great decider in how the sport’s landscape looks in the future.
The Pac-12 is seeing TV more as the great decider, as the conference faces an uncertain future with no new media rights deal in place for beyond next season. Already one school, Colorado, has defected from the 10 remaining teams in the conference after USC and UCLA joined the Big Ten.
In a new post Wednesday on his Bald Faced Truth Substack, John Canzano wrote that FOX appears to be standing in the way of the conference getting a new deal done. The network struck it big with the Big Ten and had its deal with the Big 12 sweetened with Colorado’s news.
“So why is TV reluctant to buy it?” Canzano asked. “Well, in part, because it doesn’t have to — as long as it can destroy the conference and pick apart the carcass. Fox didn’t need to make a big bid on the Pac-12’s rights. Not after it captured the Los Angeles TV market and 5.7 million television homes when USC and UCLA defected for the Big Ten. Then, last week Fox grabbed Denver via the Big 12’s acquisition of Colorado.”
Now as the uncertainty sets in, there are new rumblings that Arizona, Arizona State and Utah could also potentially jump ship despite the Arizona schools banding together initially to stay in the Pac-12.
Canzano believes FOX is hoping to run the clock out on the Pac-12.
“Those are heavy questions and it’s difficult for me not to believe Fox is rooting hard for the demise of the Pac-12,” he wrote. “After all, if all hell breaks loose it might pick up Oregon, Washington, Cal and Stanford under its the Big Ten contract at a hefty discount.”
“Television isn’t just responsible for late kickoffs, longer game times, and the loss of traditions and rivalries,” Canzano added. “Its greed has effectively squeezed the landscape into thinking there isn’t room for more than maybe 50 or 60 schools as long as the key media markets are captured and controlled.”
