Pac-12 Board releases statement, looking forward to inking “successful media rights deal(s) in the very near future”

The Pac-12 doesn’t have a new media rights deal yet, and water remains wet.

On Monday, the ten members of the conference’s board released a joint statement. The statement says that the conference’s schools “look forward to consummating successful media rights deal(s) in the very near future” and that they are committed to each other.

Joint statement from the 10 Pac-12 Conference Board Members:#BackThePac pic.twitter.com/NN5sk0TmMl

— Pac-12 Conference (@pac12) February 13, 2023

Here’s the full text of the statement.

“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 few weeks, we remain highly confident in our future growth and success as a conference and united in our commitment to one another.”

Last week, The Athletic reported that Pac-12 commissioner George Kilavkoff “is struggling to find partners willing to pay close to what the league is seeking” in a new media rights deal, and that it would be “uncertain” if the conference could exceed the average value per school achieved by the Big 12 in its new contracts with ESPN and Fox (which the Pac-12 was initially “optimistic” about). Also last week, CBS Sports reported that the conference might need to commit to expansion, with SMU and San Diego State targeted, in order to have a chance at surpassing the Big 12’s payouts.

ESPN and Amazon have been most heavily linked to the conference’s media rights, with CBS, Fox, and NBC seemingly not involved.