Tag: Pac12

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Deion Sanders’ debut with Colorado will boost Pac-12, just not enough to help ongoing media rights talks

Deion Sanders’ debut with Colorado will boost Pac-12, just not enough to help ongoing media rights talks

Back in December during a conference in Las Vegas, Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff was asked if the spectacular aura of Deion Sanders at Colorado would add value to the league’s media deal. CU’s new coach had been hired days before.

“He absolutely adds value to the league,” Kliavkoff told reporters.

While there may be added value when it comes to the perception of the league and the Buffaloes themselves, there’s not any actual monetary value being brought by Coach Prime. That’s the conclusion of several media rights consultants with whom CBS Sports spoke ahead of Sanders’ debut at Colorado in Saturday’s spring game, which has thankfully (and temporarily) overshadowed the Pac-12’s continued media rights slog.

It’s to the point that any discussions related to the actual playing of football is a win for the conference at this point. To that end, Coach Prime has absolutely owned the spring — not just at Colorado but around the entire country.

You can talk about the quarterback battles at Texas and Florida all you want. Sanders is literally trying to reinvent a football program.

“This city is going to shine,” Sanders said recently. “I don’t understand why you’re shocked or puzzled. You didn’t know me five months ago. You know me now.”

Colorado’s spring game is sold out for the first time in program history. The expected crowd of 45,000 (paying $10 each) is bigger than the last nine CU spring games combined. (The Buffs drew slightly less than 1,800 last year.)

There is a genuine buzz surrounding the program. Sanders moves the ratings needle — Colorado’s spring game is one of only two such contests ESPN is televising, the other being back-to-back national champion Georgia — but he won’t move the bottom line.

“Great story that will drive ratings, but given rights fees are long-term contractual revenue sources, team performance in the short run is not a factor,” said media consultant Patrick Crakes. “What is a factor is brand and relevance on national or super regional level. That’s what matters to pay TV [cable] distributors. So, it’s a slight positive at the moment, but in the medium and long run when it comes to rights fees, probably no impact.”

The Pac-12 continues to be in a wait-and-see mode for a new TV deal.

Meanwhile, there’s a reason they refer to Sanders as “Prime Time.”

He won the press conference in December, naming his son Shedeur the quarterback starter right then and there. Deion went 27-6 in three seasons while reviving Jackson State before trying to resuscitate what may be the worst Power Five program.

Sanders followed through with his promise bringing in his “Louis.” There were 42 new faces as of this week.

“I’m coming, and when I get here, there’s going to be change,” Sanders promised in his first meeting with the team.

But even Coach Prime can’t lift an entire conference at a crucial crossroads. Too bad. The Pac-12 has a great story to tell this season amid the media rights hubbub.

USC’s Caleb Williams is the defending Heisman Trophy winner. Utah is an emerging national power. Washington and Oregon are each coming off 10+ win seasons. Huskies quarterback Michael Penix Jr. is a 2023 Heisman candidate himself. Arizona State’s Kenny Dillingham is the nation’s youngest FBS coach.

Colorado gave up a bit of its identity — some would say, academic soul — in hiring Sanders. It relaxed some of its transfer standards. That’s what happens when there have been two winning seasons since 2006.

“Kirby Smart and Nick Saban don’t have to sell the legitimacy of Alabama or Georgia football,” said Josh Pate, host of “The Late Kick with Josh Pate” streaming on 247Sports. “Deion Sanders has to package and sell Colorado. He’s got to get you to take Colorado seriously.”

Realignment roulette

The news this week that the Oakland Athletics are preparing to move to Las Vegas should be setting off alarm bells.

How does one ignore Vegas’ college football future now that the city has emerged as a sports capital? Two men’s professional teams (Raiders, Golden Knights) soon to be three (A’s). Five leagues holding their conference basketball tournaments there each year. Plus major neutral-site games already being scheduled; LSU and USC open the 2023 season Sept. 1 at Allegiant Stadium.

It’s already a Pac-12 hub with the conference’s basketball tournament located in Sin City. Kliavkoff joined the league from Vegas where he was previously an MGM Resorts executive.

The Final Four arrives for the first time in 2028 after the NCAA Tournament debuted in Vegas last month with the West Regional. Don’t forget the WNBA Aces, XFL Vipers and NBA G League Ignite.

While UNLV doesn’t carry the cachet of other realignment candidates, its profile has been elevated alongside the city’s overall sports profile.

“I think something is going to happen. I don’t know what it is. But I think something is happen and I think something is going to happen rather soon,” said Jim Livengood, who is basically the godfather of college sports in Las Vegas.

Livengood, a former UNLV athletic director who also held the role at Arizona, has been aggressively involved in bringing sports events to town.

“I think they’re sitting in a great spot,” Livengood said of the Rebels. “Not only is it an institution that has improved themselves academically … athletically, I don’t think there is any question the new football staff has a great chance to hit the ground running.”

One must assume the Pac-12 would be interested in making a play for UNLV as they are already considering expansion with the likes of San Diego State. The Big 12, which is also exploring its expansion options, has not indicated any official interest in the Rebels. When Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark recently said his conference was open for business, it’s wise to assume UNLV, among other similarly positioned schools, picked up the phone.

UNLV: Think of a buy low, sell high situation. While the school doesn’t bring pro rata (equal value) to the Pac-12 or Big 12, grabbing the Rebels may be investment in what Las Vegas is becoming — a sports mecca. It was thought at one time the Pac-12 would relocate to Las Vegas.

“If a Pac-12 kind of a thing were to happen, I can think of a lot of reason why it would be great for us,” said former UNLV quarterback Steve Stallworth, who has spent three decades in Las Vegas event management. Stallworth calls Las Vegas a “suburb of LA” — given the number of tourists from there — that would be a natural home for the Pac-12. 

“I don’t think it’s necessarily just a sports destination, it’s a sports capital based on everything that’s going on,” said Robby Findlay, an influential UNLV booster who is director of operations for the Findlay Auto Group.

All that makes the Barry Odom hire enormous. The former Missouri coach — most recently Arkansas defensive coordinator — has a lot of responsibility. Not only to turn around the program but possibly make it presentable for a new conference. The Rebels have posted one winning season since 2000. Since moving to Allegiant Stadium in 2020, UNLV is 7-23,

“We have all the pieces to the puzzle,” Stallworth said. “Now, have we made the right personnel decisions? It comes down to that. … You have to want to win from the top. I’m talking about from the governor to the regents to the [university] president. I think we’re closer in that regard. Are we there 100{515baef3fee8ea94d67a98a2b336e0215adf67d225b0e21a4f5c9b13e8fbd502}? I don’t know.”

Fresno State: Somehow, calls from the Fresno State administration to the Big 12 have been misconstrued as interest from the Big 12. At this point, there is no Big 12 interest in the Bulldogs, seemingly not even as a fallback option if other expansion falls through. Even with Yormark desiring a presence in the Pacific Time Zone, Fresno State doesn’t move the needle with San Diego State and Pac-12 schools possibly still in play. Complicating matters: Try to imagine Stanford in the same Pac-12 with Fresno State.

Boise State: Once the best of the best of the Group of Five, the Broncos have slid. Boise State is the No. 98 television market, somewhat isolated in Idaho and no longer the emerging power it was under Chris Petersen. The Big 12 already has BYU in the Mountain Time Zone. Like Fresno, Boise might qualify as Pac-12 backfill if the league loses teams.

Memphis: Through the years, the school’s boosters have never stopped trying to move up. Memphis’ name surfaced for the Big 12 in 2016 when the league was exploring expansion. Tigers booster and FedEx CEO Fred Smith even promised a lucrative sponsorship for his company for the Big 12 football and basketball championship games. Two years ago, the Big 12 spoke loudly when it expanded to Cincinnati and Houston from the American, not Memphis.

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Big 12 looking west, Pac-12 looking for a TV deal: What we’re hearing on realignment

Big 12 looking west, Pac-12 looking for a TV deal: What we’re hearing on realignment

Very last July, weeks immediately after USC and UCLA’s gorgeous Big Ten announcement, Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff designed a bold realignment prediction: “No Pac-12 college is going to the Significant 12.”

8 months later on, we might eventually learn regardless of whether his self-assurance was justified or wrong bravado.

Kliavkoff is struggling with tension to deliver a new media rights offer to his associates by the end of the month. If the greenback figures or the specifics are underwhelming, March might be the second when the Huge 12 finally strikes. Sources briefed on the discussions say the conference has been in the latest speak to with the so-called 4 Corners colleges — Arizona, Arizona Point out, Colorado and Utah — which has renewed optimism that convincing them to be part of is feasible.

Brett Yormark has eyed westward growth considering that the working day he was employed as the Big 12’s new commissioner final summer. Yormark has hardly ever been shy about his interest in expanding the Big 12 into the “fourth time zone” to create a certainly national meeting and improve the price of his league’s media legal rights. The arrival of BYU this summertime will get the Significant 12 into the Mountain Time Zone. Yormark wants a lot more, nevertheless he has usually claimed any additions require to be additive and not dilutive.

“I don’t believe any of us are trying to dismantle the Pac-12,” Baylor athletic director Mack Rhoades informed SicEm365 on Tuesday. “If there is possibility, and any time their Television media deal arrives to fruition and if those people institutions come to a decision that it is not superior for them, then the Huge 12 will be prepared. And that likely is as easy as I can say it.”

Yormark is also deep in conversations with Gonzaga, but resources included in the method indicated he desires clarity on the Pac-12’s condition before generating that transfer.

Because these enlargement courtships commenced previous summertime, Yormark has been confident he can convince his targets that the potential is brighter in the Major 12. He ramped up the strain by jumping the Pac-12 in line and achieving an early extension with ESPN and Fox in Oct that will make his members more funds than they do now with Oklahoma or Texas. That settlement will carry in a described $31.7 million per year for each individual Significant 12 member, setting a measuring adhere for the Pac-12’s offer.

As The Athletic reported past thirty day period, Kliavkoff has been satisfied with lukewarm fascination in the market. ESPN, Amazon and Apple are the only recognized suitors, and any deal will very likely put the majority of the league’s situations on an more than-the-best streaming services. The Athletic’s Richard Deitsch reported there’s curiosity from Amazon in a weekly Friday evening Pac-12 match but that the two sides have been “far apart” in February. And the Pac-12’s timing could not be even worse. Just considering that final summer, networks have dedicated billions in long run rights fees to the Huge Ten and Massive 12, and Disney’s charge-chopping CEO Bob Iger reported in February that “we’re basically going to have to get far more selective” in sports activities bidding.

Even now, the sports activities consulting company Navigate’s modeling projects the Pac-12’s common annual benefit at $31 million for every school, hardly fewer than the Massive 12’s new deal. Though the Significant 12 has bigger lover bases, Pac-12 video games on ABC, Fox, NBC and CBS averaged 20 percent better ratings than similar Major 12 online games (excluding each leagues’ departing members) from 2014 to 2021, according to knowledge delivered to The Athletic.

Multiple people common with the Pac-12’s board customers expressed doubt that their educational facilities would switch conferences until it is for a significantly superior offer. College presidents, not Advertisements, authorize realignment decisions, and the Pac-12’s prioritize educational and cultural matches extra than most. Washington Condition president Kirk Schultz and Oregon State president Jayathi Murthy have the two attempted to defuse the many rumors in latest interviews.

“There’s tons of factors for us to maintain collectively. The distinctive users of the Pac-12 comprehend it,” Murthy told John Canzano. “All this discuss about persons managing off and becoming a member of the Huge Ten and Big 12 or regardless of what is just converse.”

Motivating individuals presidents to broaden the Pac-12 has also been a obstacle. They have not but arrived at a consensus about inviting San Diego Point out, SMU or other enlargement candidates, resources briefed on the conversations said. Two summers ago, in the wake of the SEC introducing Oklahoma and Texas, the Pac-12 board had a opportunity to welcome any variety of latest Massive 12 faculties — and passed on all of them.

But instances have transformed. Those sources consider if Yormark can persuade the management at two Pac-12 educational facilities to join the Big 12, that may possibly be all it will take to land all 4 and pull the meeting aside.

Yormark would need to have to get Fox to be an equivalent share associate in enlargement. CBS Athletics formerly documented that the Significant 12’s new rights contract consists of an settlement with ESPN on a professional rata clause but that Fox has not committed to 1. ESPN acquired 63 {515baef3fee8ea94d67a98a2b336e0215adf67d225b0e21a4f5c9b13e8fbd502} of the new Tv offer with the Major 12, sources briefed on the arrangement confirmed. Fox would have to sign off on the Large 12 introducing Pac-12 schools as complete-share members.

Yormark strongly believes basketball is undervalued in these Tv set rights talks. He has dropped hints about an interest in unbundling it from soccer and advertising people rights separately when the Major 12 upcoming hits the market place in 2030-31. Which is a single determination behind the Significant 12’s ongoing talks with hoops powerhouse Gonzaga. Joining as a non-football member would suggest a smaller sized revenue share for the Bulldogs, but they’d be an inarguably precious addition. Arizona, a top rated-10 method with more Pac-12 titles than each and every college but Big 10-certain UCLA, would likewise raise the very best conference in men’s college basketball and its lengthy-term ambitions.

“I consider we have an chance to monetize basketball in a way that has not been performed before,” Yormark claimed in an appearance on the Wilner & Canzano podcast final thirty day period. “It’s certainly something I’m pondering about. So if the prospect at any time exists exactly where, in the assemble of what tends to make perception for expansion, as section of that, we could double down on basketball and additional cement our management placement, it’s undoubtedly something that I’m inclined to think about.”

On the Pac-12 aspect, a vital second in this system could come upcoming week, at the conference’s men’s and women’s basketball tournaments in Las Vegas. The Ads in attendance are heading to want clarity and difficult figures. Kliavkoff took these rights to the open up marketplace in Oct. Practically 5 months have passed. On Feb. 13, Pac-12 presidents launched a joint statement emphasizing their unity and vowing a deal would be consummated “in the incredibly in the vicinity of upcoming.”

There is no formal deadline, but each individual day this negotiation process drags on cranks up stress and anxiety and, probably, vulnerability. As the adage goes in the profits world: Time kills all deals. What ultimately issues is the offer Kliavkoff can supply for his associates in the months forward. If it is inadequate, Yormark and the Huge 12 are poised to pounce.

(Photo: Christian Petersen / Getty Photographs)

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News: Pac-12, Bally Sports, Apple MLB Broadcasters

News: Pac-12, Bally Sports, Apple MLB Broadcasters

A new streaming business enters the Pac-12 media legal rights foray. Moreover an update on Bally Sports and their impending bankruptcy Apple Television+’s Friday Evening Baseball booths have been announced.

Apple reported to be in the mix for Pac-12 rights

According to New York Article columnist Andrew Marchand, Apple is producing a surprising late operate at the Pac-12 media rights. The information will come as the Pac-12 sees its current market dwindle. A mid-February Brett McMurphy report indicated that CBS & Turner have both withdrawn from the race. With the Large 10, Massive 12, SEC, and ACC all signing, or previously in, long expression offers, the Pac-12 is the previous significant convention remaining without the need of a Tv set companion contracted previous 2024. For Apple, this would mark a ongoing march into live sporting activities legal rights with Friday Evening Baseball and their new MLS deal starting off this 12 months. In accordance to Marchand, a Pac-12 offer with Apple would glance comparable to their agreement with MLS, with all online games remaining streamed on Apple Tv+. (Marchand 2.21)

Bally Athletics update

Following lacking their February 15 curiosity payment, the NBA, NHL, and MLB have been pinpointing their future methods with Diamond Athletics, mother or father enterprise of Bally Sports activities. The NBA, in a present of help, was located to have renewed their streaming deal for area electronic rights with Diamond Sporting activities in June 2022. The deal expires right after the 2024-25 period, just like their ESPN and Turner arrangement, creating the probable for a package offer for the league’s upcoming spherical of negotiations. The go stands in contrast to MLB’s method however, who have fashioned a “economic reform committee” according to a report from The Athletic. MLB commissioner Rob Manfred is also on the document as stating “We got to uncover a new product.” Throughout Diamond Sports’ 30-working day grace period of time, they are hoping to build a prepare that receives the NBA, MLB, and NHL on board. When it is in all the leagues very best interest that the restructuring is profitable – Diamond Sporting activities however owes teams their contracted legal rights costs – it is also obvious that the leagues are planning for a worst circumstance circumstance. (Ourand 2.20)

Apple Television set+ MLB broadcasting adjustments

In mid-February, it was announced that Stephen Nelson, Katie Nolan, and Melanie Newman would not return for a next period of Apple Tv set+’s Friday Night time Baseball. Alternatively, Apple would be transferring to a far more traditional two-gentleman booth with manufacturer new broadcasters. An Andrew Marchand report verified that there would be two pairings: Wayne Randazzo and Dontrelle Willis, and Alex Faust and Ryan Spilborghs. Of the 4, only Faust, the Los Angeles Kings play-by-engage in announcer because 2017, is not a present-day normal MLB broadcaster or radio voice, whilst he has accomplished decide on online games for Fox Athletics and NESN in the earlier. (Marchand 2.20)

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Will the Pac-12 break up? Where each team would go if league disintegrates over media rights deal

Will the Pac-12 break up? Where each team would go if league disintegrates over media rights deal

A college landscape without the Pac-12 has become a storyline worth considering, though a break-up of the 107-year-old league isn’t particularly likely.

Industry sources still project a media rights deal split between ESPN and Amazon for the embattled conference. However, dissolution of the Pac-12 is being talked about openly in those same industry circles as a potential consequence if the league does not wrap up its new deal soon.

The fact that it could happen in these tenuous times is enough to project what the process might look like.

Multiple sources tell CBS Sports the league is struggling to match its desired value for its 10-team league (south of $400 million annually, $40 million per school) following the departures of USC and UCLA to the Big Ten.

The most compelling reason: As it stands, the Pac-12 inventory of games is not something broadcast, linear cable or streaming must have at this point.

Not without USC and UCLA. Not with the league is in its eighth month since losing its two flagships. And not with 3.5 months having passed after the Pac-12 was leapfrogged by the Big 12.

The Big Ten is now coast-to-coast, spread across the three major broadcast networks (CBS, Fox, NBC). ESPN has gone all in on the SEC with an exclusive deal including the lucrative 3:30 p.m. ET window on Saturdays as well as the primetime slot with some of the highest-rated inventory in the sport. The ACC is locked in through 2036 at a stable number that is expected to grow as the ACC Network continues to throw off revenue. The Big 12 has staked its claim with Fox and ESPN, and it is looking to get bigger with expansion.

There is a finite amount any potential rightsholder is willing to pay for a damaged conference that is the last among the Power Five to complete a new media rights deal. Perhaps that was the implicit intent of the conference’s recent statement from its presidents — to calm fears.

Now consider what has impacted the Pac-12 and some of its potential bidders just since the beginning of the year: 

  • The league discovered it may owe a media partner $50 million.
  • Disney (parent company of ESPN) announced it is laying off 7,000 employees in a restructuring.
  • Amazon recently laid off 6{515baef3fee8ea94d67a98a2b336e0215adf67d225b0e21a4f5c9b13e8fbd502} of its work force (18,000 globally).
  • Alphabet (parent company of Google) cut 12,000 jobs.

The Pac-12 may have simply waited to too long to do a deal that makes financial sense to some of its members. CBS Sports previously reported the Pac-12 may have to commit to expansion in order to maximize the value of a deal. 

The bulk of the other Power Five’s games are on what are still-reliable linear platforms (broadcast, cable). Linear continues to outperform streaming by a large margin. Consider, during the 2022 season, the SEC and Big Ten had a combined 50 conference games that finished in the top seven of the weekly TV ratings.

The Pac-12 had one such game that didn’t include USC or UCLA, according to SportsMediaWatch.com

When the Big 12 similarly lost its two flagships programs, the league acted decisively to expand under then-commissioner Bob Bowlsby. Under new commissioner Brett Yormark, the Big 12 jumped ahead of the Pac-12 with that new media rights deal.

The Pac-12 has reached a point where the best broadcast windows on the best networks are filled with premium content from other conferences while streaming remains an unproven home. Did the league simply overvalue itself?

Taking all that into account, here is a step-by-step look at what would happen if the Pac-12 disbanded.

Why would the Pac-12 break up?

Basically, the current members would get nervous enough over a lack of value coming back to them in a media rights deal in conjunction with dissipating exposure and perceived prominence for their universities and athletic programs.

How will Pac-12 games be seen by a broad audience if they are not on TV or the best windows, which are filling up fast. If significantly more than half of future Pac-12 games project to be on a streaming serve, as CBS Sports previously reported, that’s a bad sign. Again, linear is still the preferred delivery system for live sports.

On a streaming carrier, the Pac-12 would lose significant visibility That translates — for starters — to declined recruiting and a struggle to hire top coaches if their games will not be widely available.

If individual or collective Pac-12 schools sense they can make more money and receive better exposure in another Power Five conference, they have no choice but to look out for the long-term financial security of their universities and athletic departments. Football (and basketball) media rights basically fund a program’s remaining sports.

Where would Pac-12 teams go?

If the Pac-12 ultimately breaks up, most — but not all — of its membership would find waiting Power Five homes. It would kick off another round of expansion and may result in further changes coming down the road.

Four Corners schools

Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah have been Big 12 targets, in some form, since USC and UCLA announced plans last summer to leave fo the Big Ten.

That interest has picked up considerably with the Pac-12 appearing even more vulnerable. Yormark wants to have membership in the Pacific Time Zone. That would make the Big 12 the only conference to have members across all four time zones.

Adding the Four Corners schools would also make the Big 12 the third conference with 16 members joining the SEC and Big Ten.

  • Arizona would enhance the Big 12’s basketball reputation. (Gonzaga is in consideration as a basketball-only member.)
  • Arizona State is one of the biggest sleeping giants in the country playing in the nation’s 11th biggest market (just outside Phoenix).
  • Colorado is a former Big 12 member, achieving its greatest success in the league in the old Big Eight. Deion Sanders at CU is a walking, talking marketing executive. Whatever he accomplishes, it can’t hurt viewership.
  • Utah (along with Oregon) is arguably the Pac-12’s strongest remaining football program. It would also give BYU a travel partner.

In essence, adding those four schools would create more Big 12 content in more time slots. Such an expansion might reflect what the Pac-12 is worth right now. If the Big 12 expands, its contract states new team(s) would get 63{515baef3fee8ea94d67a98a2b336e0215adf67d225b0e21a4f5c9b13e8fbd502} of pro rata revenue from ESPN (approximately $20 million annually). If that’s what compels those schools to move, what does it say about the current worth of the Pac-12?

Oregon and Washington

Assuming the Four Corners bolt first, that creates a decision for what would become the two biggest available brands in the country. Keyword “available” because, with the league crumbling around it, Oregon and Washington would have options. And their best option would likely be the Big Ten.

The schools align academically with the Big Ten. They would join USC and UCLA, mitigating travel issues in the Big Ten for all four schools with more games closer to home.

Even if the Pac-12 stays together, how long until Oregon and Washington have wandering eyes? Nike founder and Oregon benefactor Phil Knight has been looking out for the Ducks since early in the process. CBS Sports confirmed Washington’s interest in the Big Ten last fall, which was termed significant at the time, if the Pac-12 didn’t work out.

It is known outgoing Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren wanted further conference expansion seeking to add those two schools as well as Stanford and California. There was much pushback from Big Ten presidents and athletic directors, but with the Pac-12 potentially decided its own fate, the Big Ten wouldn’t be perceived as breaking up the league this time around, avoiding a possible costly legal challenge. (This time, however, the Big Ten would likely want no part of Stanford and Cal.)

An 18-team league would make the Big Ten the biggest in the history of major-college football. It would create significant scheduling issues and result in balking from existing rightsholders, who will be asked to pay more. Perhaps a streaming service would get involved to defer costs.

Best guess: Oregon and Washington would take less than a full Big Ten share (estimated $75 million per school starting in 2024) at least initially to be part of the richest conference in the land.

The last four

Out of that upheaval emerges a conference of leftovers. Think of a Pac-12 — or whatever it is called by then — attempting to forge ahead with its four remaining schools (Cal, Oregon State, Stanford, Washington State) while filling the rest of the conference with Mountain West programs. (It could also go the other direction.)

San Diego State and SMU are already projected as expansion candidates if the Pac-12 survives, so pencil them in to make it six teams in the hybrid league. A corner bar discussion might reveal a new Pac-12 that looks like this:

  • Cal
  • Boise State
  • Fresno State
  • Oregon State
  • San Diego State
  • SMU
  • Stanford
  • Washington State

That lineup would reduce the Power Five to the Power Four, creating implications beyond the Pac-12 itself.

Pac-12’s best chance

The way out of this muck is a 12-team league that includes San Diego State and SMU appearing to present more value to potential rightsholders.

The Pac-12 has been positioning itself for such an expansion while struggling to meet its goals. SDSU gives the Pac-12 a presence once again in Southern California. SMU gives the league some things it never possessed: games in the noon ET window and a recruiting foothold in Texas. We’ve detailed San Diego State’s advantages.

Adding the two teams would give rightsholders 90 Pac-12 games on which to bid. But again, that’s assuming there’s enough bidders with enough money left for the remains of the Conference of Champions.

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Pac-12 expansion with San Diego State, SMU may be necessary before league inks new media rights deal

Pac-12 expansion with San Diego State, SMU may be necessary before league inks new media rights deal

The Pac-12 may need to commit to conference expansion first before achieving its compensation target in a new media rights deal, sources with knowledge of the situation tell CBS Sports. In an effort to return to 12 members following the departures of USC and UCLA, the Pac-12 has focused its efforts on evaluating San Diego State and SMU.

Pac-12 commissioner Georgia Kliavkoff has already toured San Diego State, CBS Sports previously learned. He is planning to visit SMU on Wednesday, according to Brett McMurphy.

The Pac-12’s next media rights deal will be heavily reliant on a digital streaming partner. Significantly more than half of each season’s Pac-12 football games will be primarily available via streaming as part of the conference’s next rights deal, sources tell CBS Sports.

Such a ratio is unprecedented for a Power Five conference and for whichever streaming giant becomes the first to more fully embrace college sports. The move would likely upset Pac-12 coaches, athletic directors and administrators who rely on widespread visibility for their games via linear (cable) and network platforms for everything from athletic recruitment to university enrollment.

The Pac-12 has long suffered from substandard distribution resulting after deciding to go with the standalone, wholly owned Pac-12 Networks. A heavy streaming deal would further limit the conference’s visibility. 

The next Pac-12 deal is expected to be split between a streaming service and ESPN. With the Pac-12 seemingly unable to reach its compensation target — believed to be approximately $30 million to $35 million per program annually — it appears to be urgent for the conference to expand as a condition of completing a deal in the monetary range it seeks.

Conferences that find themselves in this situation typically negotiate a new rights deal prior to completing a separate deal for expansion. That order establishes value for existing conference members prior to adding new members.

It is not known whether San Diego State or SMU — two Group of Five schools — would receive full media rights shares if the Pac-12 chooses them for expansion. Adding the programs would increase annual Pac-12 game inventory 20{515baef3fee8ea94d67a98a2b336e0215adf67d225b0e21a4f5c9b13e8fbd502} from 75 games per season to 90.

Which streaming giant is in the lead to ultimately carry Pac-12 games is unknown. Amazon was successful last season with its NFL “Thursday Night Football” package. Apple recently signed a 10-year contract with MLS. However, neither platform has shown much interest in college sports to this point. (Industry experts project most major sports will be viewed on streaming in coming years.)

The Pac-12 is only major conference to not yet renew its media rights this cycle. Critics say the league missed its most lucrative window as negotiations drag on.

Not helping matters is that far more lucrative properties are coming available, including UFC, NASCAR, NBA and WWE, the latter of which is seeking a sale to a content provider. .

Despite the loss of Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC, the Big 12 was able to sign a deal late last year that was worth more than its prior contract. The current Pac-12 contract with Fox and ESPN, which expires on July 1, 2024, is valued at approximately $21 million per school not including revenue from the NCAA Tournament, College Football Playoff or bowl games.

ESPN is believed to be interested in the Pac-12 because of the “fourth window” — games that begin after 10 p.m. ET. The network would have a hole in college football broadcast day beginning in 2024 if it does not pick up some Pac-12 games. It already missed out on getting a piece of the Big Ten deal signed with CBS, Fox and NBC.

San Diego State makes sense in Pac-12 expansion. There already is a hole in Southern California given the Pac-12 has lost USC and UCLA to the Big Ten.

The addition of SMU would be non-contiguous (not bordering a state with a Pac-12 school) with the university 820 miles from Colorado, the league’s closest program. However, in at least some small way, SMU might establish a recruiting foothold for the Pac-12 in Texas.

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With a sparkling stadium and surging program, San Diego State makes an easy case for Pac-12 expansion

With a sparkling stadium and surging program, San Diego State makes an easy case for Pac-12 expansion

SAN DIEGO — J.D. Wicker is standing on the top concourse of one of the biggest parties in the country. What else would you call San Diego State’s new stadium, which equates to the latest lob pass for what the school hopes is a slam-dunk entry into the Pac-12?

On its best day, which projects to be every game day, college football is almost a sideshow in new Snapdragon Stadium. The main event is the craft brew-infused vibe that San Diego State’s athletic director has, well, crafted.

“There are more bars in that stadium than there are in most cities,” said Aztecs coach Brady Hoke.

That isn’t entirely why San Diego State enters 2023 as the next hottest realignment candidate, but elite concessions certainly do not hurt. Taps or no taps, Wicker’s vision of a 35,000-seat boutique stadium reflecting the city’s culture, history, food and brew — built on one of the country’s most expensive pieces of real estate — was going up regardless.

Snapdragon opened last year on time and under budget — rebranding, renewing and rallying a 126-year-old institution. At the same time, in and around “America’s Finest City,” the planets have (re)aligned. When USC and UCLA left for the Big Ten, San Diego State in a flash became the best, brightest, most geographically desirable school to fill what is now a gaping hole in Southern California for the Pac-12.

After years of priming itself in hopes the West Coast’s flagship conference would notice, SDSU doesn’t have to flirt anymore. The moment has met SDSU, roaring down I-5 from Los Angeles to meet the school on what seems to be the Aztecs’ terms.

“We basically went from, ‘Hey, you’re doing a good job. Your break is coming,’ to, ‘You’re the only team in Southern California that plays FBS football that isn’t in the Big Ten,'” Wicker said.

The mood floating around Cali’s second largest — but still laidback — city is split between breathless anticipation and trying not to get too emotionally invested. Dreams have been dashed here before. See: The Chargers following the 2016 season.

“It’s not an if, it’s a when,” said a high-ranking industry source regarding SDSU’s future opportunity to join the Pac-12.

“Now that USC and UCLA are gone, there’s nobody really to block us,” said Jack McGrory, an SDSU alumnus, professor on campus for 25 years and now a member of the California State University board of trustees. “We’re the only viable option to have a team in Southern California.”

Still, this being realignment, there are never any guarantees.

“Once the ink is dry, so they say, then we celebrate,” warned David Malcolm, a real estate tycoon in the area for half a century who helped arrange the $15 million lead donor gift for Snapdragon.

Officially, the Pac-12 has said it will consider expansion once it signs a new media rights deal.

Sources tell CBS Sports that deal is expected to be made in the first quarter of 2023 with Amazon (or another streaming service) and ESPN. Expansion would follow. Regardless, it must happen fast with USC and UCLA leaving for the Big Ten in 2024.

Unofficially, there is an assumption in the industry the Pac-12 has no choice but to plug up its Southern California hole with SDSU.

“People in this town will lose their mind if, in the same academic year, they get a brand new football stadium and San Diego State goes into the Pac-12,” Wicker said.

Wicker, 53, was already considered one of the industry’s more influential ADs. He recently spoke with Mississippi State, his alma mater, about its vacant AD job before the school hired Oklahoma deputy AD Zac Selmon. But if things progress as planned, Wicker might become a Power Five AD by staying put.

Now, about that beer. Wicker fundraised for a $310 million stadium that would take $800 million to build today, according to Malcolm. Wicker wanted the entire experience to reflect the city, its weather (driest on the West Coast), its fish tacos (best anywhere) and its essence.

“I wanted you to know you’re in San Diego State’s football stadium, but I didn’t want to throw up San Diego State on everything,” Wicker explained.

“Pac-12 folks have been impressed with what we’ve done. [Pac-12] commissioner George Kliavkoff said to invest in football. I have a $310 million investment.”

That means paying homage to San Diego’s craft beer heritage. San Diego County, the “Capital of Craft,” boasts 150 breweries. Wicker went further in Snapdragon, saluting with images ranging everywhere from the school’s six-legged Wampus Cat mascot in the 1920s to the San Diego Chicken.

There are even piers (with beers) in the stadium.

A 2020 rendering of The Pier at Snapdragon Stadium prior to its opening.
SDSU Athletics

Snapdragon was designed to expand to 55,000 seats and potentially host an NFL franchise, which would heal a wound opened when the Chargers left for Los Angeles.

“The NFL actually knows our stadium, knows our design. J.D. thought of everything,” Malcolm said.

As for the relatively small capacity of Snapdragon, sure, the Rose Bowl is more than 2.5 times larger. But Washington State’s Martin Stadium in the Pac-12 is smaller, and Oregon State’s Reser Stadium is slightly larger. Besides, with attendance declining nationally, plenty of ADs would kill to fit demand by building an on-campus stadium from the ground up.

San Diego is a top 30 market. Not the No. 2 market as Los Angeles can claim but still a stake in the Southern California ground. Wicker commissioned a study that showed there are approximately 250 FBS prospects from Santa Barbara south. That doesn’t mean the Aztecs will get them all, but the school does have some leverage.

“You want San Diego State in your league at [a full media rights share] because you don’t want us in the Big 12,” said Wicker. “All the Big 12 schools [would] have a reason to come to Southern California to recruit.”

That Pac-12 media rights share is being determined. If the Pac-12 goes heavy with a streaming partner, it would mark a first for a Power Five conference. In general, the conference is expected to earn around the same per team as the Big 12 ($31.6 million) when the latter agreed to its deal in October. (That figure does not include revenue from the NCAA Tournament, College Football Playoff and bowl games.)

However, it is common practice for schools moving into a Power Five league to start at a lesser share of media rights revenue and graduate to a full share over a period of time. 

Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark has been public about his desire to expand to the Pacific Time Zone, whether it’s San Diego State, Arizona, Arizona State and/or Gonzaga in basketball.

But getting the Aztecs to the Big 12 would take some convincing of that league’s presidents and ADs. There would be similar travel concerns in the Big 12 as there were when the Big Ten added USC and UCLA.

Ten years ago, the remnants of the old Big East briefly formed a league that stretched from Connecticut to South Texas to San Diego. The idea never gained traction. TCU went to the Big 12. Boise State and SDSU stayed in the Mountain West. Then the American Athletic Conference formed with the remaining schools.

More recently, there have been reports the Pac-12 has spoken with SMU about expansion. But San Diego State seems to be the No. 1 target, perhaps the only target. Yes, the Pac-12 could go forward with 11 schools.

Former Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby has toured the SDSU campus. It’s logical to assume Kliavkoff has done the same. Both Wicker and the Pac-12 declined comment.

If San Diego State leaves the Mountain West before June 30, it would owe the conference triple its current annual media rights revenue, a total of approximately $15 million. MWC schools currently make approximately $5 million per year as the conference sits in the third year of a five-year deal signed with CBS and Fox in 2020.

SDSU has believed it belongs in the Pac-12 ever since it joined the MWC in 1999. Beyond the geographical connection, basketball and football have been consistently good. Under Steve Fisher and Brian Dutcher, the Aztecs have been to nine NCAA Tournaments since 2010.

Despite a down 7-6 season, Snapdragon averaged 83{515baef3fee8ea94d67a98a2b336e0215adf67d225b0e21a4f5c9b13e8fbd502} capacity in its debut season. Hoke has already girded himself for a recruiting fight. “We were going to make you say no,” Hoke said. “We were always going to recruit at the highest level.”

Wicker wants to have an event in Snapdragon each day of the year. Monster trucks just left town. Coldplay is coming in the fall. UCLA visits Sept. 9. The Aztecs have played at least one Pac-12 school annually since 2011.

The school itself is nearing Research 1 status, an important academic checkmark when Pac-12 presidents vote for expansion. SDSU annual applications are among the highest in the country. Over the next 15 years, an innovation district is expected to grow up around the stadium in Mission Valley, which was once a dairy farm.

Steve Sourapas has split loyalties. The San Diego native once played for John Robinson at USC. He bought the first Founder’s Club suite in Snapdragon, committing to 15 years on the 50-yard line for a cool $3.75 million.

The 65-year-old Sourapas runs a beer distributorship started by his dad 57 years ago. He attended the first game ever played at old San Diego Stadium in 1967. John Madden was the Aztecs defensive coordinator for that team, which was led by College Football Hall of Famer Don Coryell. That venue eventually became Jack Murphy Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium, which was torn down to make room for Snapdragon.

“Some of the Pac-12 teams, they don’t sound sexy, but they sure play hard,” Sourapas said of life in a bigger league without USC and UCLA. “I don’t know if it’s going to be that much tougher.”

What about that Snapdragon party?

“Remember,” Sourapas said, “I sell beer there.”