Pac-12 to begin negotiations for next media rights agreement

Changes are coming to the Pac-12. With that in mind, the league took a big step toward its next media rights agreement on Tuesday.

The Pac-12 announced it’s moving forward with media rights negotiations immediately. The league’s board of directors met Tuesday morning and decided to go forward with the move, according to a brief statement.

pic.twitter.com/0Nbmy468if

— Pac-12 Conference (@pac12) July 5, 2022

“The Pac-12 Board of Directors met this morning and authorized the Conference to immediately begin negotiations for its next media rights agreements,” the statement read.

The announcement comes less than a week after two of the league’s highest-profile programs to the Big Ten. USC and UCLA announced their departures, leading to questions about the next round of media rights negotiations. The Pac-12’s current media deal is set to expire in 2024, the same year the Trojans and Bruins will join the Big Ten.

Pete Thamel reveals USC, UCLA departure could negatively affect Pac-12 TV deal

Last week, ESPN’s Pete Thamel spoke about how brutal the two Los Angeles schools will turn out to be for the Pac-12. He said losing USC football may be the biggest blow of them all. Thamel also pointed out that TV networks that would be bidding for the Pac-12 will now be going after the Big Ten.

“It’s hard to overstate what a bad day yesterday was for the Pac-12 conference,” Thamel said on SportsCenter. “You have to remember — part of the reason why USC and UCLA are leaving when they did was because the league was on the cusp of a new television deal. Which, obviously, is going to happen after the 2023 season. So they’re essentially entering negotiations and instead of pocket aces now with the LA market and USC Football as the two biggest draws to the Pac-12, they now have to recalibrate the league.

“And the suitors that would be paying for the Pac-12 and have in the past, are dumping more money into the Big Ten. So, everything is spiraling wrong for the Pac-12 right now and it’s going to be a true test of Commissioner George Kliavkoff — who is just celebrating his one-year anniversary in the league — how he puts Humpty Dumpty back together out west.”