Report: Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff to present TV rights deal to league members
The long wait for the Pac-12 to secure a TV rights deal is reportedly almost over.
Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff is set to present a TV rights deal to league members in the next 48 hours, according to columnist John Canzano. Stewart Mandel of The Athletic confirmed the report.
Kliavkoff has stated for months that the league was close to finalizing its TV rights deal. However, it still hasn’t been released. Kliavkoff updated the progress of the new media rights deal at Pac-12 Media Days earlier this month.
“Getting the right deal has always been important, more important to our board and the conference than getting the expeditious,” he said earlier in July. “The longer we wait for the media deal, the better our options get.”
While Kliavkoff has indicated in the past that completing a media rights deal quickly wasn’t a priority, it certainly seems in the best interest of the league to get something finalized. USC and UCLA are on the way to the Big Ten, and news broke last week that Colorado is also leaving the Pac-12 and heading back to the Big 12.
There has been speculation that others could leave the Pac-12 soon. Perhaps securing a media rights deal will keep that from happening. It remains to be seen if the move is too little, too late.
Dan Lanning fires shot at Colorado for leaving Pac-12
Speaking of Colorado leaving the Pac-12, Oregon head coach Dan Lanning fired a shot at the football program earlier Monday.
Lanning clearly doesn’t feel as though their absence will be felt very much out west.
Lanning took a shot at Colorado to end his time talking at the Ducks’ media day Monday afternoon. Per James Crepea of The Oregonian and Brenna Greene of KOIN News in Portland, he doesn’t think the loss of the Buffaloes will matter much to the Pac-12 considering how often that they weren’t even in the league’s race.
“Not a big reaction. I’m trying to remember what they won to affect this conference and I don’t remember. Do you remember them winning anything? I don’t remember them winning anything,” Lanning said.
That’s one heck of a shot fired by Oregon’s head coach.
Still, there’s at least some shred of truth within what he said. Colorado arrived in the Pac-12 back in 2011. Over their 12 seasons in the league, they’ve posted a winning record, overall and in conference play, just twice. On top of that, one of those was the pandemic season in 2020 where they played just six games in total.
Overall, besides those two seasons, Colorado finished in the bottom three of the Pac-12 standings. In four years, so a quarter of their time in the conference, the Buffaloes were dead last or tied for last in the standings.