Pac-12 Presidents' Demands Were Based On Inaccurate Data, Pushed ESPN Away: New Report

The collapse of the Pac-12 Conference happened several months ago, but we're still finding out more about what went wrong.

And reporter John Canzano has some more background that helps explain just how badly the conference mishandled its television rights negotiations. Although according to Canzano's sources, some of the blame can be placed on believing inaccurate media reports.

It's no secret that the Pac-12 received a $30 million offer from ESPN in 2022, which the conference rapidly turned down. But Canzano reported that their infamous $50 million counteroffer was based on a misunderstanding of what the Big Ten was getting. Apparently the conference presidents believed that the Big Ten would be distributing $70-80 million per school, making $30 million seem extremely low. And $50 million sound a lot close to reasonable.

Utah President Taylor Randall responded to Canzano, saying that the $50 million offer was also meant more as a starting point than a final offer.

“The Pac-12 Presidents and Chancellors worked collectively in pursuit of a new media rights agreement,” Randall said. “Though an offer was made by one of our media partners, we elected to take the rights to market to get the best deal. Throughout the process, many of the CEOs — including myself — pushed to ensure that the conference was aggressive to secure the very best agreement we could. Several conference schools retained their own consultants to value the league, which resulted in a range of estimations. It is my understanding that any mention of $50 million, which was higher than any valuation, was only as a potential starting point in negotiations to help get us to the estimated true value.”

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - DECEMBER 03: A general view of the PAC-12 logo at midfield before the PAC-12 Football Championship football game between the Oregon Ducks and the Utah Utes at Allegiant Stadium on December 03, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images)

Pac-12 Offer Led To Collapse Of Conference

After the Pac-12 made their $50 million offer to ESPN, the television network immediately walked away from the negotiating table.

While Randall believed it represented a starting point and not a serious expectation, ESPN clearly viewed it that way. And without one of the premier sports networks involved, the conference's options dried up quickly.

It's hard to believe that the presidents of some of the country's biggest and most powerful institutions couldn't have found a way to learn the actual exact dollar figure of the Big Ten's media deal. Especially with the survival of the conference at stake.

At the same time though, it's hard to believe that the $30 million deal would have been enough to keep all the involved parties happy. Oregon, Washington and Utah signing off on a deal that pays them less than half of what schools like Purdue, Illinois or Northwestern make was always unlikely.

And USC and UCLA clearly believed that the media landscape had shifted so drastically that it was unlikely the Pac-12 would ever equal the Big Ten or SEC.

The groundwork for the collapse of one of the Power 5 conferences was laid essentially a decade ago, but it took a tremendous amount of incompetence, arrogance and misunderstandings to complete it.