Yours truly can't evaluate the implications of the deal reported below in the Mercury News, as the Big-Ten becomes the Big-Twelve with the addition of UCLA and USC. But perhaps that's the point. The Regents are not equipped to evaluate the implications either. It's just not the kind of thing they do, or in which they have any expertise. And they likely would not even have involved themselves had it not been for the in-and-out intervention by the governor - who since seems to have moved on to other things.
The news broke Sunday before dawn on the West Coast, straight from the Southern Plains: Moving swiftly and strategically, the Big 12 locked in a media rights contract with ESPN and Fox reportedly worth $2.3 billion over six years. Across the Pac-12 footprint, the development generated interest, not alarm as it ventures down a similar but not identical path. The conference began working toward a new media deal four months ago, after the announced departures of USC and UCLA, and still doesn’t have an agreement. A deal remains weeks, and perhaps months, away. Yet here comes the Big 12, cutting in line to feed at the media rights revenue trough.
Is Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff, who offered a stunningly optimistic outlook last week, moving too slowly? Is his confidence misplaced? Has he been outmaneuvered by Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark? It depends where you turn for conjecture...
Full story at https://www.mercurynews.com/2022/10/31/pac-12-survival-the-big-12s-media-deal-adds-element-of-uncertainty-that-should-not-be-ignored/.
The one element of this story that seems not to be subject to "conjecture" is that the parties involved in the deal seem to assume that there is zero chance that the moves by UCLA and USC will somehow be undone. The next Regents meetings are scheduled for November 15-17, and it will be interesting to see if this matter is even on the agenda.
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https://ia601402.us.archive.org/25/items/big-ten/media%20deal.mp3
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