Assisted access <<
-> Meanwhile, the conference faces a fast-approaching, albeit informal, deadline. Its mid-summer media showcase, designed to promote the players and coaches powering the most anticipated football season in years, is scheduled for July 21 at Resorts World Las Vegas.
If commissioner George Kliavkoff doesn’t provide clarity on the contract negotiations over the next 10 days, the existential crisis could dominate the Las Vegas event and create unseemly optics. (The tangible impact of not having a media deal in place by July 21 would be negligible, however. The Pac-12’s negotiating partners are discussing deals worth hundreds of millions of dollars annually and don’t care about bad press from a single media event.)
How should Pac-12 fans define clarity on the negotiations? The conference doesn’t need to unveil a finalized long-form contract, which could take months to complete. But it cannot simply offer another “statement of unity” from the presidents,
akin to the one issued in February. Nor can it hide behind optimistic but vague comments by Kliavkoff.
After so many months of silence, it must offer concrete evidence that a satisfactory deal is on the table and resolution is close on three tracks:
—
The media rights contract. The annual valuation matters immensely, but so does the means of delivery. How many football games will be placed on a streaming platform and how many will be available on linear television?
—
The grant-of-rights agreement. There is no collective security without this document, which is signed by the schools and binds their media revenue to the conference. (The Pac-12 likely is targeting a medium-term agreement that covers five or six years.)
—
The decision on expansion. Should the conference add two members — SMU and San Diego State are the favorites — or move forward with 10? <-