'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
The Pac-12 seems to have royally messed up their chances of survival as the latest reports suggest Commissioner George Kliavkoff failed to find an agreement with ESPN in 2022.
College football insider John Canzano tweeted a link to his story with the chilling inscription about the deal that could have saved the conference.
"The Pac-12 had an offer from ESPN of $30 million per school in the fall of 2022. The network wanted it all. But the presidents and chancellors wanted more. 'We said we want $50 million per school'. ESPN's response? 'Goodbye,'" Canzano wrote.
This creates a lot of questions, as the fall of 2022 was after the USC Trojans and UCLA Bruins decided to leave for the Big Ten. That means ESPN believed in the conference enough to want them for the future, but desiring almost double the money offered has now cost Pacific-12 everything.
Is the Pac-12 dead now?
This disclosure by John Canzano proves that the Pac-12 did not understand its situation and expected Big Ten money.
George Kliavkoff had a chance to save the conference and still have a future. ESPN offering $30 million per school just shows how vital media rights are, even with a dying conference, but the leaders of the Pac-12 messed it up.
How could the conference ask for $50 million, as this was already after USC and UCLA decided they were switching conferences? That feels like a lot of gall from Kliavkoff and the presidents to ask for. Now, the Pacific-12 has disintegrated to Pac-4, with Oregon State, Washington State, Cal and Stanford the only teams remaining.
Unless there is a merger with the Atlantic Coast Conference or the Mountain West Conference, there seems to be little chance of the "Conference of Champions" surviving. They completely overplayed their hand and are still without a media rights deal with 10.5 months remaining on its current contract.
ESPN should not be viewed as the villain of this story either, as asking for $300 million more per year is ludicrous. The conference lost its two biggest members, and the company was willing to overpay to keep it in the early negotiation window.
Bad management can kill a company, and we might have just seen it with an entire college sports league.
