“We weren’t wanted”: The Pac-12 Networks’ smoke & mirrors can’t hide failures anymore
"No media company wanted to partner with the Pac-12. ESPN declined. FOX, CBS, even the Discovery Channel declined."
Archives
The Pac-12’s biggest issue is a lack of recent football success, and that’s hard to fix with a consultant or a commissioner
While the Pac-12's move to look at bringing in an external consultant feels logical and may fix some of the conference's issues, its biggest problem is its football struggles. And those can't be fixed by the central league office.
Pac-12 CEOs may hire a consultant reporting to them, not Larry Scott, and that could lead to a structural overhaul
Some changes could be ahead at the Pac-12.
Pac-12 Networks’ Mark Shuken says Apple may bid for primary rights, tech firms “told us they want to be in this space”
Apple is reportedly only interested in primary rights, not lower digital rights.
Pac-12 Networks to reduce workforce by eight percent amidst COVID-19 crisis, implement hiring freeze and executive paycuts
Pac-12 cuts include laying off around 12 full-time Pac-12 Networks staffers, implementing a hiring freeze at both the networks and the conference, and reducing the salaries of commissioner Larry Scott and senior staffers by 20 and 10 percent respectively.
Pac-12 Networks to drop to one on-site produced event this spring: “The vision for the network has slowly died.”
“A lot of people behind the scenes believed in the conference’s message four years ago and we’ve watched as the vision for the network has slowly died.”
Could Chris Petersen be the next college coach to take a TV job?
Plenty of coaches have gone into TV work, but there might be some particular challenges there for Petersen, especially given his history with ESPN.
Pac-12 Networks project a six percent drop in revenue, flat per-school distributions still below their initial worst-case projection
The Pac-12 Networks' total revenue is expected to drop six percent ($8.1 million) year-over-year in 2019, with net advertising revenue falling 22 percent and digital revenue plummeting 30 percent.
Pac-12 Networks president defends networks’ revenue issues by saying the point isn’t to make money
This should go over pretty well with the Pac-12 schools.
Pac-12 reportedly turned down an offer from ESPN to distribute Pac-12 Networks in exchange for rights extension
ESPN would have locked down their rights fee with the Pac-12 "well into the 2030s," and the Pac-12 wasn't willing to go that far.
The Pac-12 is seeking $750 million from investors, $250 million more than initial plan, and they want a 25-year commitment
The Pac-12 is now asking for 50 percent more money from investors than they previously were.
Former hedge fund manager: Pac-12’s proposed equity terms (10 percent for $500 million) are “probably not going to happen”
The Pac-12's valuation of $5 billion for the conference (so $500 million for a 10 percent share) appears quite optimistic, according to a long-time hedge fund manager asked to evaluate it.
Pac-12 teams are seeing drastically lower payouts than expected from Pac-12 Networks
We knew things were bad with the Pac-12 Network, and we still may have been giving them too much credit.
