The Pac-12’s long-delayed media rights deal will not be announced at Friday’s football media day, a conference source told The Athletic, in part because of recent developments in the negotiations.
“We’ve seen folks come to the table that were not at the table six months ago,” the person said. “The patience that the presidents and chancellors are showing is paying off, because waiting is going to result in better deals than the league would have gotten three, six, nine months ago.”
The person said there remains no specific timetable for an announcement beyond the “near future.”
It has now been nearly a full year since commissioner George Kliavkoff announced at the Pac-12’s 2022 football media day that the league had initiated discussions for a new media rights deal to begin with the 2024 football season, when the league’s current deals with ESPN, Fox and the Pac-12 Networks expire. He said at the time the process “will likely take months to complete.”
Over the past five months, several league presidents and ADs have made public comments indicating an imminent timeline for a new deal, none of which came to pass. The longer the talks have dragged on, the more speculation has swirled that schools like Colorado and Arizona, known to be expansion targets for the Big 12, might defect.
But both Arizona president Robert Robbins and Colorado chancellor Phil DiStefano have indicated their schools won’t make any decisions until they know the details of the Pac-12’s next deal. The Big 12’s new deals with ESPN and Fox, which begin in 2025, are reportedly valued at $31.7 million per school annually.
DiStefano told The Denver Post on Wednesday that Colorado’s “goal” is to remain with the league.
The Big 12 has been exploring expansion ever since commissioner Brett Yormark was hired last summer, with a focus on adding Colorado and potentially more Pac-12 members. The Athletic has previously reported that no Pac-12 school has been more receptive to the Big 12’s overtures than Colorado.
Yormark said last week at Big 12 media days that his conference has a plan for expansion that he hopes to execute “sooner than later” if the opportunity arises. UConn is also on Yormark’s radar, but he’ll need to build consensus among Big 12 ADs and presidents about the Huskies being a valuable addition for the league if he goes in that direction. Yormark has also said he’s “perfectly fine” with staying at 12 members, which might end up being the case for now if Colorado does stick with the Pac-12.
Kliavkoff, who has not commented publicly about the negotiations since last December, is scheduled to take questions from the media Friday in Las Vegas, where the topic threatens to overshadow appearances by on-field stars like Heisman winner Caleb Williams of USC, Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. and Oregon quarterback Bo Nix.
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