Pac-12 TV deal gets new $19.7M/team bid from another network, paying pennies to each FBS powerhouse: Reports

The Pac-12 TV deal seems to be in the final stages of being completed, as there are talks about meetings happening to discuss it. Pac-12 Commissioner Greg Kliavkoff is rumored to present a streaming deal with Apple where each university receives $19.7 million per season and a kickback per subscriber.

College football insider Greg Swaim tweeted about the potential deal that Kliavkoff will present to the presidents of the Pac-12 universities.

The Pac-12 TV deal has been one of trial and tribulations, as there have been many issues of programs leaving the conference and expecting more money when it isn't there.

It will be interesting to see how the Pac-12 handles this media rights deal, as their current deal with ESPN and Fox expires on July 1, 2024.

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What does the rumored Pac-12 TV deal mean for the conference?

When the idea for a Pac-12 TV deal is to put it behind a subscription service, that's not great for the long-term health of the conference. However, this is not the first time a league has decided to go this route. Major League Soccer has a deal with Apple where their games are behind a paywall, too.

The $19.7 million per team does not seem too crazy with the state of the Pac-12 currently. When the Pac-12 TV deal kicks in, the conference will be without the USC Trojans, UCLA Bruins and Colorado Buffaloes,with other programs rumored to be leaving.

The kickback for subscribers will be interesting because outside of fans of the programs or alma maters, who is going to be willing to pay for Pac-12 football? The other four Power Five conferences are all on television, with the big games airing on the main channels like ABC, Fox or NBC. Unless there's hype for a certain player, who's going to be willing to shell out money to watch Pac-12 football?

It's going to be interesting to see if the deal is for total subscribers on the platform. As of March 2023, it's estimated that Apple TV has 25 million subscribers, and that fanbase is not all going to tune into college athletics, especially if it does not include some bigger universities than the Pac-12 offers.

Apple TV does have an affinity for live sports, as they have deals with MLS as well as exclusive games for Major League Baseball. At least, they have some experience with filming and broadcasting sports. Can the Pac-12 survive on a subscription platform like Apple TV?