Pac-12 "struggling to find partners" for media rights deal

Playing the waiting game is appearing to come back and bite the Pac-12

The Pac-12 has become a popular topic of discussion again these days thanks to realignment rumors picking back up, and questions about media rights deals.

On the expansion side, it appears that San Diego State and SMU are the top candidates to join the conference and may happen sooner rather than later. The piece that was always holding the conference back from expanding was the media rights deal, something that according to The Athletic, is not going well for the conference. 

The report explained that the Pac-12 is not finding success to find someone willing to pay what they were hoping saying:

Three people with knowledge of the discussions said commissioner George Kliavkoff is struggling to find partners willing to pay close to what the league is seeking. Two of those sources said Kliavkoff overpromised his members on how many bidders there would be and what dollar amount they could command — a target north of $40 million per school, according to one league athletic director. Today, it’s uncertain whether the Pac-12 will even be able to exceed the $31.6 million average the Big 12 reportedly landed in a six-year extension with ESPN and Fox it reached last fall.

We knew that last fall the Pac-12 and ESPN, who is interested in the conference for its late-night games, were “hundreds of millions apart" but to see these issues continue is concerning. The Athletic went on to explain that adding SMU and San Diego State can help garner more interest from streaming platforms, which would then raise the value by adding more games.

Despite the timetable being media rights first than expansion, the article also says there is a possibility expansion will have to happen first in order to know how much money can be made.

As this saga continues on, it is safe to say two things. One, Larry Scott is still haunting the Pac-12 despite not being an employee anymore, and secondly, George Kliavkoff lack of aggression may really hurt the conference in the long run.