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The PAC 12 is further distancing itself from Los Angeles after the recent departures of UCLA and USC. The league will now hold their annual college football media day event in Las Vegas instead.
The news was broken earlier this week, causing many online to post their reactions.
When you think about the PAC 12, you have to think of LA. It’s a conference whose history on the gridiron is tied directly to the Rose Bowl, held annually in the largest city on the West Coast.
The league has had a presence in Los Angeles since the early 1920s.
Now, though, the conference finds itself in disarray due to a variety of different reasons. Most notably, the losses of the Bruins and Trojans. In the summer of 2022, the two schools announced that they’d soon be off to the Big Ten.
Those departures have put the PAC 12 in limbo, and it continues to scramble for answers.
The loss of the Los Angeles market has severely hampered the ability to acquire a strong media rights deal. At last check, ION TV, a station devoted mostly to syndicated police dramas and infomercials, was a contender to land the agreement.
There’s still the potential of landing a streaming service, like Apple TV. Still, that’s a far cry from the current FOX/ESPN deal they currently own.
Making things worse, the PAC 12 reportedly owes money to one of its past partners in COMCAST.
But a TV deal isn’t the only thing the conference is struggling to secure. Suitable replacements for the losses of USC and UCLA have been hard to come by, too.
Group of Five additions like San Diego State and SMU have been mentioned, but far more noise is circulating around the possibility of future defectors like Oregon and Washington.
While many question the league’s ability to stay afloat, the “Conference of Champions” is looking to move forward. That future will apparently have little to do with the city in which its history is so deeply rooted.
Columnist John Canzano reports that the PAC 12 will move its upcoming media day event to Sin City after being held in Los Angeles for the last few seasons.
Pac-12 Football Media Day is moving to Las Vegas this year, per a conference source.
LA no more.
— John Canzano (@johncanzanobft) February 27, 2023
That move signals a further distancing from the city as it looks for a new identity. Many were quick to react to the news on social media.
One person wrote, “Interesting, considering [Commissioner] Kliavkoff said something to the effect that the Pac would not be abandoning the LA market after USC/UCLA leave.
Another fan commented, “No need to be down there any more. Plus, I’m sure some media members will be more than okay with being in Vegas for a couple days.”
Others were more concerned with the future. This fan asked, “Does this signify UNLV in the pipeline of joining the PAC12 as well after SDSU & SMU join??”
The PAC 12 will look a lot different in the coming years as it continues to search for answers. The league as we’ve come to know it is officially gone.