The Pac-12 Conference is in the midst of negotiations for a new media contract, and the timeline for completion has been pushed back yet again. Initially, several league presidents predicted a deal would be reached back in February, but those predictions have proven to be overly optimistic. University of Utah president Taylor Randall recently stated that a deal would take time and patience, and a source with knowledge of the discussions now says that the timeline is expected to be “late spring, early summer.”
Recent reports indicate that the Pac-12 is looking at the CW Network as a home for its football games. However, while the network has a lineup of popular shows, it has no facilities to produce football games. Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand has discounted talk of a deal with CW, stating that while representatives from both parties did hold initial talks, they never got serious.
As negotiations recently continue to drag on, the departure of Deputy Pac-12 commissioner Jamie Zaninovich is a notable event. He was the chief negotiator with the long-sought media renewal deal and was also the Pac-12 chief operations officer.
While the delay in negotiations has frustrated some Pac-12 fans, it seems the league is sending a message that it is not willing to take just any deal. Spencer McLaughlin of the “Locked on Pac-12” podcast has suggested that league presidents and athletic directors are not concerned with what the media is saying, and if they cared, they would have taken any deal they could get.
As Pac-12 negotiations continue, scrutiny and criticism have mounted. While the league could certainly use some glitter that leads to gold soon, negotiations continue. In the meantime, Pac-12 loyalists are adamant that a deal will eventually be reached.
Leave a Reply