Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff will present a long-awaited media rights deal to league members within the next 48 hours, a person with direct knowledge of the negotiations told The Athletic.
The league’s Board and ADs are scheduled to meet with Kliavkoff on Tuesday morning.
The news comes on the heels of Colorado’s departure for the Big 12 last Thursday, after which the conference released a statement saying it was “focused on concluding our media rights deal and securing our continued success and growth.” Speaking at the conference’s football media day on July 21, Kliavkoff did not give a specific timeline, saying only the deal would be completed in the “near future.”
News of the expected presentation was first reported by John Canzano.
Speculation surrounding the status of the Pac-12’s next media rights deal have dragged on for nearly 13 months, ever since the league opened negotiations with current partners ESPN and Fox shortly after USC and UCLA’s announced departure for the Big Ten. The current deal expires at the end of the coming school year.
The next deal will be benchmarked against the Big 12’s six-year extensions with ESPN and Fox, announced last fall, which begin in 2025 and are reportedly worth $31.7 million per school.
Beginning as far back as last winter, various presidents and ADs have gone on record saying the deal would be completed within weeks, only for the supposed deadline to come and go.
It’s unclear whether the timeline accelerated following Colorado’s announcement, which left the Pac-12 at just nine remaining members. The Big 12 is looking to add one more school, The Athletic and others reported, with Arizona assumed to be the next in line. Arizona president Robert Robbins has said for months his school would wait out the Pac-12’s negotiations.
“All I keep saying is, you know, we’re just waiting to get a deal,” Robbins told The Athletic last Thursday. “And then everybody has to evaluate the deal on its merits. I’ve been pretty steadfast in that stance.”
As part of its statement last week, the Pac-12 said it would “embrace expansion opportunities” once the media rights deal is complete. It’s believed the league would make any such moves almost immediately. San Diego State and SMU have long been assumed to be the top targets.
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