PAC-12 Releases Statement Amid Media Deal Chaos

The PAC-12 continues to try to convince people everything will be okay as the conference appears on the brink.

With USC and UCLA leaving in 2024 and the conference entering the final football season of its media deal, it appears that the conference is in serious trouble.

The two largest brands in the conference are leaving, and there's been absolutely no major movement on landing a new media deal. In fact, recent reporting indicates the PAC-12 isn't even close to landing a new media deal. While the Big 12 is already locked in for years to come, the PAC-12 appears hardly able to stay above water.

Yet, the conference is urging calm and released a joint statement Monday.

The PAC-12 tries to convince fans everything will be fine.

Given the chaos surrounding the conference and George Kliavkoff's seemingly inability to land a new media deal, it seemed likely somebody would say something.

Now, it's happened. The PAC-12 conference board released a statement claiming the conference remains "highly confident" moving forward.

"The 10 PAC-12 universities look forward to consummating successful media fights deal(s)- in the very near future. Based upon positive conversations with multiple potential media rights partners over the past weeks, we remain highly confident in our future growth and success as a conference and united in our commitment to one another," the statement read.

Is the conference cooked?

It feels like we have to have this conference bi-weekly at this point at OutKick when it comes to the PAC-12.

Ever since last summer, the conference and George Kliavkoff have been trying to claim everything is fine and the league is stable and strong.

Yet, there's been literally no evidence to actually back that stance up. In fact, there's plenty of evidence to suggest the exact opposite.

There's no new media deal in place, networks don't seem interested in offering anything lucrative, Arizona State is reportedly ready to leave and the Big 12 offers stability and guaranteed revenue checks. The PAC-12 can issue all the statements it wants.

However, that doesn't actually mean anything. Until there's a new deal done, fans should definitely be nervous. It will take just one team leaving to potentially set off a dominoes effect.

Written by
David Hookstead is a reporter for OutKick covering a variety of topics with a focus on football and culture. He also hosts of the podcast American Joyride that is accessible on Outkick where he interviews American heroes and outlines their unique stories. Before joining OutKick, Hookstead worked for the Daily Caller for seven years covering similar topics. Hookstead is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin.