Arizona Wildcats: 2019 Athletics New Year’s resolutions
Resolution: Do whatever is in your power to make changes at the Pac-12 to meet or exceed the prominence of other conferences, money-wise and exposure.
It’s time to make a move and gather all the Pac-12 AD’s together to either ask for changes or push for new leadership at the helm of the Pac-12.
John Canzano, The Oregonian, wrote a post titled, “Left out: How Larry Scott and the Pac-12 continue to lose ground in the college football arms race.” In it, he laid out his arguments to support the title. First, he pointed out the lack of funds, “The financials of the Pac-12, when compared to its peers nationally, paint a picture of a conference that is operating lavishly and producing significantly less revenue for its members.”
But it’s not just the revenue, it’s the expenses too. Canzano pointed out that putting the Pac-12 offices in San Fransisco is expensive. Scott ($4.8 million) makes a salary double that of Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany ($2.4 million), running the conference and the TV Network. Canzano pointed out that the Pac-12 spends $6.9 million a year on rent alone. Compare that to the SEC who spends $318K a year. So it’s not just income, its expenses as well,
Just look at the disparity of travel expenses among top conferences:
"“The SEC spent $788,000 on travel in the last reported fiscal year. The Big 10 spent $542,000 in conference travel expenses. The Pac-12 Conference spent a total of $3.1 million.”"
Danny O’Neil, ESPN 710 Seattle, asked for Larry Scott, the Pac-12 Commissioner, and TV Network leader, to be fired. He has some great points. One is that the Pac-12 went 1-8 in bowl games in 2018/19.
O’Neil isn’t happy that Scott negotiated a contract with ESPN and FOX that allows the networks to choose game times as early as the week of a football game. The Pac-12 regularly gets the short end of the stick with late game times making it hard for the away teams to get back home at any normal hour of the day. It also gives no visibility to half of the country who don’t want to stay up past midnight to watch a Pac-12 game.
O’Neil also pointed out that the Pac-12 held their football championship game at 5 pm on a Friday night with an empty stadium. He said Scott was, “Booed as he presented Washington with its trophy for winning the title.”
DIRECTV still does not carry the Pac-12 Network. Pac-12 fans have screamed and complained about not being able to watch the Pac-12 games all over the country. It’s infuriating, it’s exasperating and it seems unfair. Scott is proud that the Pac-12 owns all the rights to it’s programming, but where does that get his conference as far as exposure? Not very far.
It seems there is a big fear among Pac-12 staffers because, according to Canzano, “Scott has a reputation among staffers in the conference for being vindictive toward those who speak out against him.” He also says he is protected by ASU, Oregon State and UCLA’s presidents who are dubbed the “Pac-12 CEO Group.”
The majority of money received by Arizona Athletics comes from College Football. Their share of the Pac-12 revenue is $31 million. This is in stark contrast to the SEC’s per team distribution of $50 million.
It’s time to turn around the Pac-12, get the stations on DIRECTV and try to work out deals so that the games are played at decent times. It’s time to get more exposure for our athletes, get more money for our schools to attract the best assistant coaches, and truly make the Pac-12 the Conference of Champions.