Pac-12 Still Eyeing Four Teams for Expansion: Report
The Pac-12 is still working on a media rights deal over a year after it opened up negotiations, leaving many schools in the conference to wonder what their future looks like.
As the conference stands now, it appear that there aren’t many serious buyers that are in the market for a linear television product of the Pac-12’s size. No, with Big 12 jumping them in line for a media rights deal with ESPN and FOX, the television networks are satiated when it comes to college athletics.
However, the Pac-12 does have the option, or the hope rather, of adding some teams in order to help offset the loss of the Los Angeles market.
According to Dan Patrick of The Dan Patrick Show, the Pac-12 is still hoping to add SMU, Boise State, UNLV, and, yes, San Diego State to its membership in order to stay afloat.
Would adding those four teams be enough to keep the Pac-12 alive? Potentially, but I’m not convinced that those four will get the right television partners jumping at the chance to sign a new deal.
If the Pac-12 is going to survive, it’s likely going to have to convince its current members that a streaming option is the best course of action moving forward, and that is the main roadblock that stands in their way now, and likely for the foreseeable future.
