Big 12 'totally out maneuvered Pac-12' by getting early media rights deal done

'There was one big deal to be had and the Big 12 got in there and got it.'

Back in October, the Big 12 signed a media rights deal with ESPN and FOX worth a total of $2.28 billion. The deal was spearheaded by Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark - and four months later it looks like a stroke of genius.

Talking on their weekly The Marchand and Ourand Sports Media Podcast, reporters Andrew Marchand and John Ourand discussed the Big 12's deal and why it's led to the Pac-12 struggling to get a media deal done. 

"There was one big deal to be had and the Big 12 got in there and got it," Ourand said. "Things are not looking great right now for the Pac-12 from a linear TV perspective."

Marchand and Ourand went on to discuss the Pac-12's potential media partners. The situation looks bleak.

FOX most likely won't partner with the Pac-12 unless it's for "pennies on the dollar" according to Ourand. 

If Amazon is a partner, it won't be for a massive sum of money like the company paid to broadcast NFL Thursday Night Football, according to Marchand. 

"My understanding with Amazon is that they don't want tonnage, so could they go for the Pac-12? I think they could," he said. "But I think that there's a better chance that maybe they save up for the NBA or NASCAR and I don't think that they're going to go crazy ... I'm 99.9 percent sure if the Pac-12 ends up on Amazon, it's going to just be a comparable price that you'd get from a network, nothing crazy where they outbid everyone by a lot." 

In an earnings call last week, Disney CEO Bob Iger said that ESPN will have to become "more selective" on media rights, which means the company most likely won't partner with the Pac-12 unless it's for cheap. 

Another possibility is a partnership with Apple, but that won't be perfect either, according to Marchand. 

"Apple is a wild card, but the problem with Apple is you're still on a streamer and it's just not as well known," he said. "I don't know if that works."

Marchand also said that he doesn't think Turner is involved in negotiations with the conference and that NBC and CBS won't "break the bank" to get a deal done. 

WHERE DOES THE PAC-12 GO FROM HERE?

The conference released a statement on Monday about the current media rights situation:

“The 10 Pac-12 universities look forward to consummating successful media rights deal(s) in the very near future. Based upon positive conversations with multiple potential media rights partners over the past weeks, we remain highly confident in our future growth and success as a conference and united in our commitment to one another.”

In a story written earlier this week, longtime columnist John Canzano predicted that "the Pac-12 will soon cut a media deal. It will likely expand by two members. Oregon and Washington aren't going anywhere. Neither are the 'four corners' schools. Then, we’ll all move on to talking about the next college football season."

With USC and UCLA already defecting, speculation is swirling that other schools in the conference could also bolt. Canzano doesn't think that will happen, but it's definitely possible.

Between the odd unity statement and lack of a new deal, it's easy to see why there's so much uncertainly currently clouded over the conference.