No, the Big Media did not kill off the Pac-12 Conference

College Conference realignment has delivered a fatal blow to the Pac-12 Conference; however, it wasn’t the fault of Big Media that put us here. 

It was September 2010, the then Pac-10 Conference announced the additions of Colorado and Utah. And as the conference grew to 12 members, the Pac-12 Conference would soon begin its own network in the subsequent months after its amalgamation, following in the footsteps of the Texas Longhorns (Longhorn Network) and the Big Ten.

Signing a blockbuster, 12-year deal with Fox and ESPN worth $3 Billion, Conference commissioner Larry Scott seemed well-positioned (at the time) in the ever-changing world of college athletics.

And with the lofty goal of using seven channels to broadcast everything Pac-12, the opportunity to enhance the West Coasts’ brand and extend its reach was certainly there.

The only thing is, it never fully came to fruition.

The conference’s inability to secure a deal with DirecTV, and its lack of distribution to the larger networks, ultimately led to its demise as the conference’s network reach shrunk year over year, and its revenue performance dwindled since its inception in 2012.

Enter in new Pac-12 Conference Commissioner George Kliavkoff, and it seemed the former MGM Executive walked in on a ticking time bomb.

Hired in May of 2021, George had quite the uphill climb as conference commissioner. At the time, the perception of the Pac-12 was bad. The conference had not won a national title in either football or basketball in quite some time, its national relevancy as a conference had diminished, and the revenue gap between the Pac-12 and its Power 5 peers was substantial.

Even worse, its $3 Billion deal was soon set to expire in 2024.

So how would Kliavkoff begin his tenure? Well, largely with apathy and inaction. Perhaps he was in over his head or overwhelmed, and granted, Scott didn’t leave him in the best position, to begin with, but with an opportunity to expand in the Summer of 2021, George sat on his thumbs.

Instead of being the aggressors in an evolving world of collegiate athletics, the Pac-12 chose to maintain the status quo, which ultimately proved to be detrimental.

A lack of urgency by the Pac-12 and Kliavkoff to secure a new media rights deal opened the door for USC and UCLA to seek out greener pastures as they eventually signed with the Big 10.

From there, it set a course of events that would allow for several of its member institutions to be scooped up one-by-one by other conferences, putting the conferences’ illustrious 100+ year history at risk.

So no, it wasn’t the Big Bad Media that killed the conference, it was inaction and the myriad of poor decisions made by the conference and its leaders that put us here. And if you don’t get with the times, you get left behind.

Don’t forget to follow us at @ZonaZealots on Twitter and like our fan page on Facebook for continued coverage of Arizona news, opinions, and recruiting updates!