Why is the Pac-12 delaying its media deal announcement? Exploring the FBS powerhouse's TV contract pushback - strategy or fallacy?
The back-and-forth saga surrounding the Pac-12 media deal has gone on for a year and has been exhausting to watch. Admittedly, there has been a lot of transition in college football lately, as much as there has ever been in the sport, but the degree to which this deal is dragging on is getting a bit ridiculous.
The Pac-12 has lost USC, UCLA and California to the Big Ten, and many insiders around the college football landscape believe the Pac-12 will eventually collapse. We know that the Big Ten continues to evaluate teams for eventual expansion and that the SEC openly admits the desire to grow to 16.
Current Pac-12 teams, Colorado and Arizona, are heavily connected to the Big 12. The Big Ten could poach Oregon and Washington shortly. Not to mention the on-again, off-again situation with San Diego State and how the Aztecs had to crawl back to the Mountain West Conference. Due, in large part, to the Pac-12 media rights deal not being complete.
Some believe the Pac-12 is delaying their media rights deal as a strategic maneuver to drive up the bidders and the price. Some feel the conference lacks leadership and is grasping at straws in an incompetent fashion to hang on to a make-shift group made up of leftovers.
Let's explore and weigh the two options.
Pac-12 Media Deal: Strategy
Many around the Pac-12 thought the media rights deal would have been announced long before now, but worst case scenario, it could happen at the Pac-12 Media Day. We now know this is not the case and that the Pac-12 Media Day will sail by without a media rights deal.
The Presidents and Chancellors are preaching patience, but is it paying off? Perhaps. The latest reports around the Pac-12 point to additional buyers coming into play. These reports are not shocking with AppleTV, Hulu and others in the sports streaming game.
Some have intimated that the recent shift in direction at Disney has caused a slight delay in their process, but the recent news all points to positive signs for a more lucrative Pac-12 deal.
Pac-12 Media Deal: Fallacy
The Pac-12 is scrambling. Losing three of their high-profile teams to the Big Ten was not part of the plan. Outlining a wink-wink deal with San Diego State and having that fall flat was not part of the plan.
Will the Pac-12 bring teams to replace the departed USC, UCLA and California? I believe they will. Will these teams be sub-standard? I think they will. Whoever ends up with the Pac-12 media rights are buying a substandard product.
At the end of all of this, when the Pac-12 finally announces their media rights deal, I expect them to lie through their teeth and say, "This was all part of the plan."
Pac-12 Media Day: Conclusion
Money talks. The Pac-12 will see its media rights deal finalized, and everyone will grin and be happy they made a fortune. The delay was not by strategy or by design but rather by necessity. It may ultimately play out in the Pac-12 favor, but that is a happy little accident.
The Pac-12 will get a deal done, for at least the short-term, but their long-term is on shaky ground. At least for now, it appears the Pac-12 will avoid a crisis. Sometimes, it's better to be lucky than good.