Last weekend's championship game between Utah and Washington drew only 35,134 in 68,500-seat Levi’s Stadiumgetty images
It would be "hard to convince anyone the Pac-12 is making inroads compared to other conferences," and all it takes is a "look at the championship game between Utah and Washington on Friday," according to Brad Rock of the DESERET NEWS. Official attendance was 35,134 in 68,500-seat Levi’s Stadium, but actual attendance "appeared south of that." Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott speaks "glowingly of sponsor partnerships and touts the conference winning twice as many national championships as any other league last year." However, there "hasn’t been a basketball championship" since '97, and in football the "last consensus champion" was USC in '04. USC ended up "vacating that title due to NCAA violations" (DESERET NEWS, 12/4). In Portland, John Canzano notes Washington State at No. 13 was "left out of New Year's Six bowl games by the selection committee." All 12 of the Pac-12 schools "took a hit when the committee sent Florida to the Peach Bowl to play Michigan instead of WSU." The payout for the Peach Bowl is $4M to the SEC for "Florida's appearance." The losers here include "all 12 conference schools and the Pac-12 headquarters, which would have each had an equal Peach Bowl distribution of $307,692.30" (Portland OREGONIAN, 12/4).
MEETING OF THE MINDS: As part of a roundtable discussion, ATHLETICDIRECTORU.com noted much of the "off-field conversation during this year’s college football season focused on the importance of media, distribution of content, and athletic department revenues." Regarding distribution, the Pac-12 "received a fair amount of criticism for its inability to strike carriage deals for its Pac-12 Network." JMI Sports President Tom Stultz: "You have to go back to when the Pac-12 did its deals with ESPN & Fox. At the time that agreement was heralded as the largest conference deal in college sports, averaging $250 million per year, and it more than quadrupled what the Pac-12 had previously received from the networks." He added, "Most thought it was a real coup for the Pac-12 that they were able to create their own network and retain 100% of the equity in it." Navigate Research Founder & CEO AJ Maestas said the Pac-12 could have "taken the safe and easy route and avoided the near-term challenges it now faces around distribution, negative PR, and building a successful network." Mestas: "But the conference’s leadership took a bold and calculated gamble that owning its network outright would pay off in the long term." Stultz noted the Pac-12 should be "positioned very nicely to capitalize on a changing market." Stultz: "My guess is the Pac-12 will begin negotiations earlier than 2024 and will do so with a better understanding of what the other conference deals look like and with far more content and flexibility." IMG Media Senior VP/Head of North America Hillary Mandel said the fact that Pac-12 "controls its rights will give them flexibility and optionality when they come to market" (ATHLETICDIRECTORU.com, 12/3).
