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In 2022, the Pac-12 found itself in fairly dire straits after USC and UCLA announced their plan to defect from the conference in favor of the Big Ten.
That development was obviously less than ideal for the Pac-12, which suddenly found itself without two of its most bankable teams thanks in no small part to their association with the lucrative Los Angeles television market.
The news also broke at a pretty inopportune time for a conference that was gearing up to sign a new media deal, and it undoubtedly played a role in the decision both ESPN and Fox Sports made to decline to renew a partnership stretching back to 2012.
Earlier this year, CBS and Turner both announced they were also passing on the opportunity to broadcast Pac-12 games, and shortly after, the vice presidents of the athletic department at Arizona State acknowledged any eventual deal would likely fall short of initial expectations.
In February, a report surfaced that suggested ION had expressed interest in linking up with the Pac-12, and while that was certainly better than nothing, it also left a lot to be desired.
However, things have taken a fairly interesting turn thanks to what University of Colorado chancellor Phil DiStefano recently had to say about the matter.
Last year, Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff asserted the conference would be able to leverage Deion Sanders’ arrival in Boulder as it continued negotiations with potential broadcasting partners.
There’s no telling how big of a role the Coach Prime Effect has played, but during a conversation with USA Today, DiStefano asserted the Pac-12 will be more than able to hang with the rest of the pack based on what he had to say about the impending TV deal:
DiStefano said “there’s a very good possibility” the next deal will bring in per-school revenues ranking third among the Power 5 conferences, ahead of the Big 12 and Atlantic Coast conferences.
As things currently stand, it seems like Apple and Amazon are the frontrunners to team up with the Pac-12, so it’ll be very interesting to see how this plays out when everything is said and done.