Apple TV ‘possible bidder’ for ‘likely’ Pac-12 streaming package

Update [9:34 p.m. ET]: Sports Business Journal originally reported Apple TV as “among the possible bidders” for a “likely” Pac-12 streaming package. The publication has since removed Apple TV from its report. See our original story on the initial report below.

After the Pac-12 and Paramount announced CBS as the new-look conference’s “primary” media rights partner come 2026, many were left wondering what was next for the league.

That’s because the CBS deal included just three regular season football games on the broadcast network, with other games destined for Paramount+ and the CBS Sports Network cable channel. Pac-12 commissioner Teresa Gould has long said the conference intends to link up with multiple broadcast partners, and now it seems like one could be separating itself from the rest of the pack.

According to a report in Sports Business Journal, Apple TV is “among the possible bidders” for a “likely” Pac-12 streaming package. Should Gould’s past comments hold true, and the conference finds itself a second broadcast network to go along with CBS and a streamer, it would seem likely that the Pac-12 ends up with three separate media rights partners beginning in 2026.

That will be necessary for the conference if it wants to compete from a financial perspective. Per SBJ, reports have valued the conference’s CBS package between $8 million and $15 million per year, but likely under $10 million. That would amount to around $1 million per school. Compared with the tens of millions of dollars in annual media rights fees paid out to schools in the upper echelon of college athletics, these additional deals will need to do some heavy lifting for the conference.

Apple TV would be a bit of an ironic pairing for the conference. Some will remember that the old Pac-12 left a deal with Apple TV on the table that would’ve seen each school rake in $23 million per year.

So far, Apple TV has only dipped its toe in live sports rights, having inked an exclusive deal with MLS that is in its third season and a smaller deal for Friday night MLB games.