Pac-12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff is set to present the conference’s members with details of a significant potential media rights deal during a scheduled meeting this week, according to a person familiar with the conference’s plans who spoke to The Associated Press on Monday.
The meeting, which includes presidents, chancellors, and athletic directors, is slated for Tuesday. The Pac-12 has not publicly addressed its internal discussions, and the news of the meeting was initially reported by sports blogger John Canzano based in Oregon. This meeting comes shortly after Colorado’s announcement that it will leave the Pac-12 after this year and rejoin the Big 12. Reports on Monday began to circulate that the University of Arizona was closing in on a decision to move to the Big 12 Conference, perhaps as early as Tuesday.
While Pac-12 leaders have expressed their desire to keep the conference intact, they have been cautiously optimistic that the forthcoming media rights deal will generate sufficient revenue to support this goal.
Kliavkoff has been actively pursuing a new deal to replace the existing contracts with ESPN and Fox, which are set to expire in 2024. This endeavor was prompted by Southern California and UCLA’s announcement over a year ago that they would join the Big Ten after the current contracts run out. In contrast, the Big 12 secured an extension last fall that will take effect with ESPN and Fox in 2025.
Kliavkoff stated during the Pac-12 football media day in Las Vegas two weeks prior that the conference was on track to announce its deals around the same time as anticipated before conference realignment and emphasized the importance of patience being rewarded.
With Colorado’s impending departure, the Pac-12 will be left with nine committed members. The pressure is on Kliavkoff to secure a deal that can come close to matching the expected $31 million per year that the Big 12’s contract is projected to pay its member institutions; otherwise, further defections from the Pac-12 could be a possibility.
