"If CUSA could do it, the Pac-12 could have done it"- CFB world roasts PAC for not striking a TV deal amid reports of $800000 GoR for conference USA

College football fans have taken aim at the Pac-12.

The Pac-12 needed to renegotiate a new media rights deal starting in 2024, and it was expected that the conference would get a new deal.

However, the deal took longer than expected, and eventually, Commissioner George Kliavkoff presented the media rights deal with Apple, which was mostly streaming. The payout wasn't nearly as much as other conferences were getting, which made some schools unhappy.

Now, to add salt to the wound, Conference USA announced that it signed a five-year TV deal with ESPN and CBS Sports worth $800,000 annually/per school.

To lock in its media deal w/ESPN & CBS Sports Network, Conference USA schools signed a 5-year Grant of Rights thru 2027, sources told @ActionNetworkHQ. 1st report by @ChrisVannini. CUSA's media deal worth $800,000 annually/per school.

Any school leaving before 2027 must pay $800,000 for each year remaining in GOR. CUSA’s previous media deal, w/majority of games on Stadium & Facebook, was only $400,000 annually/per school.

The news is no doubt interesting, especially with how much money each CUSA school makes. With that, many CFB fans took aim at the Pac-12 and Kliavkoff for not being able to get a deal like that.

"If CUSA could do it the Pac 12 could have done it."

As some fans point out, the leaving fee of $800,000 per year if they leave early will likely keep Conference USA intact until 2027. It also shows how much money is still available in the market for some of the smaller conferences.

Will the Pac-12 get a new media rights deal?

After the Pac-12 has seen eight of its 12 schools leave, what the new media rights deal will look like is uncertain.

The hope for the Pac-12 is to add more schools or merge with the Mountain West Conference or American Athletic Conference. If that happens, perhaps the Pac-12 will go back to Apple, as the original deal was a five-year deal with each school getting $25 million per year.

Of course, with the Pac-12 being a Power 5 conference and a much bigger conference, the schools wanted more money compared to what CUSA got. That no doubt played a role in why ESPN and CBS were interested in it as they only have to pay $800,000 per school compared to $25 million.