Prospect of visibility, more money makes Big 12 move enticing for Arizona

Arizona might very well be the next domino to fall in conference realignment, as the schools board of regents met on Tuesday in a closed session, seemingly eyeing a move to the Big 12. And as the school does so, On3’s Andy Staples was joined by the Associated Press’ Ralph Russo to dive into that subject and more.

And Staples put it pretty plainly to Russo: If you were Arizona, choosing between the Big 12 media deal and the Pac-12 deal that is reportedly via Apple TV and with payouts tied to subscriptions from schools, what would you pick? Russo didn’t hesitate.

“So my gut reaction to that, the first thing that I think of is no, I’m taking the Big 12’s — I know what that looks like,” Russo said. “Because there’s more certainty and there’s better exposure. The exposure piece is a big thing, too. As you said, you have to go to Pac-12 games. You’re not just going to stumble upon Pac-12 games if they are on a streaming service. When I’m recruiting, that’s a big deal to me. That seems like a big deal to me. Now, if [George] Kliavkoff had said, ‘Listen, hey, this deal is going to be X amount more than the Big 12 deal and I’m certain of that.’ Yeah, maybe I’ll sign up for that. But when I combine the exposure going down and there’s some uncertainty about how much money I’m going to be making, that’s a very scary thing.”

Russo did pose that things like TV exposure and payouts might be overblown by himself and others in the media. He posed to Staples that it’s possible internal conversations are also valuing other factors more.

For one, the new 12-team playoff unveils in 2024-25. Russo wonders if teams like Washington, Oregon and Utah aren’t looking at the Pac-12 and seeing easy paths to contend for a playoff spot. He also wondered if asking fans from Arizona to travel to Morgantown, West Virginia, and the like is really feasible.

“So I guess what I would ask you is do you think that there are some factors at play that we are so focus on the TV deal that maybe there are some factors at play that we’re underrating when those conversations are being had at Arizona, Arizona State, Utah and elsewhere?” Russo said.

Staples agreed, but went even bigger picture for the likes of Oregon and Washington, who are not looking to the Big 12 for an exit, it seems.

“I think that is definitely the conversation at Oregon and Washington. Where they say ‘Let’s stay in the Pac-12, let’s own this conference.’ Utah probably is thinking along these lines as well. ‘Let’s own this conference. We’re just going to split the playoff berths every year and we’ll all be playoff teams,'” Staples said, all while waiting to see if the Big 10 ever comes calling.