CFB expert calls Pac-12 media deal failure one of the biggest debacles of the modern era and blames sports executives for the loss
The Pac-12 failed to get a TV media rights deal this summer which led to an exodus of schools from the conference.
It was well-documented that the Pac-12 needed a new media rights deal this summer, and the hope was to get a strong TV deal. However, commissioner George Kliavkoff struggled to find a new deal.
After months of failing to get a new deal, Kliavkoff promised the wait time would be worth it. However, the deal ended up being mostly streaming with Apple, and the money was not comparable to other conferences' media deals.
After seeing 10 of 12 Pac-12 schools leave to join other conferences and those conferences get more media rights money, college football expert Dan Wolken took aim at the conference.
"The fact that the TV networks would pay various conferences to add 10 of the 12 schools in the Pac-12 but the Pac-12 couldn’t get a TV deal that kept them in the same league is one of the biggest failures by a sports executive we have ever seen," Wolken tweeted.
Wolken has a point, as seeing other conferences add money to its TV deal by adding Pac-12 teams, should make people wonder why Kliavkoff couldn't get a good media rights deal.
George Kliavkoff liked Apple's media rights deal for Pac-12
When Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff presented the media deal, he thought it was good for the conference as it could grow into more money each year.
However, Washington was one of the schools that left the Pac-12, and Washington President Ana Mari Cauce wasn't happy with the deal:
“(The Apple deal) was not the deal that we had been discussing just days before, and it was not going to secure (our future). When you have a deal that people are saying one of the best aspects of it is, ‘you can get out in (three) years,’ that tells you a lot.”
Whether or not Kliavkoff can keep the Pac-12 together now is uncertain. Only Oregon State and Washington State are left, so the conference will need to add schools soon.
However, if the Pac-12 can add schools and survive, perhaps Kliavkoff will have a chance to get a new media rights deal.