Thanks. John, for this very thorough and informative discussion of what's been wrong with the way the heads of the PAC 12 colleges have functioned with the Commissioner. It's too bad only two are still around. The other 10 should have to face the music for their failures.
You cannot be up front and candid when you are in the midst of confidential negotiations. (You don't show your hand when you play cards). It would be nice if the behind the scenes dialogues could produce tangible results that could be made public. And bashing USC/UCLA doesn't win any points either. I am sure he will take the high ground, but show his determination to keep the PAC 10 solvent.
Hey John: Your piece yesterday comparing the pac-12 to the Big 12 was very informative, and I like learning things from you on the Bald Faced truth! What you wrote today about the Pac-12 media day was good also. I hope the new pac-12 commisch comes through for the pac-12. If he has one hint of being like Larry Scott, I will be very upset. I do not like the late starts for the pac-12. I was back east a few years ago and wanted to watch the Ducks on tv. My nephew, who lives in Virginia, wanted to see the Huskies too. Both games were late starts, like 10:30 pm. As you have stated before, how many pac-12 fans who now live back east, will be able to gear up their football Saturday for a game that will not be over before 2 am? I loved visiting my nephew and his wife and their two five year old twins, one boy and one girl. Now they have a third child, just born. Both parents went to Stanford, as did my brother in law. My nephew loves sports like me. He only went to school for like eight years after he graduated from the Cardinal, and now has a PHD in economics. His wife has a doctorate in pharmacy, and works in a hospital, with a medical doctor seeing patients. My nephew grew up a Husky in Seattle. He took me to a Washington National baseball game in 2015, when I first visited them. It was a beautiful new park, built in an industrial area. The only real access was by subway, and d.c. has a newer system that we used a lot.. This is the same trip that I went to Yankee stadium for two games. I hope to go back soon, however even though I have had four pfizer covid shots, my Kaiser physician has advised me to not travel by air unless it is absolutely necessary. She further said to avoid all cruise ships, even though now they are serving Astoria, Oregon. The risk by air is such: say the guy next to you on the plane has not been vaccinated, even though you have a mask that you do not remove. So your neighbor has covid, he is eating and drinking and could end up coughing on you. I am almost 71, and contrary to what many trumpsters I know think, I know covid is real, as is global warming. I am a very strong liberal Christian democrat who has never voted for a republican for President and never will. My new title for what I write on same site as you, is called Donnie Duck's Latest. It is Pac-12, Duck football, liberal democrat, and DUMP TRUMP 2024. If these people do not want to get vaccinated, is their right. If they want to die from covid, is up to them. They are being very selfish by not thinking about the people they are around. I have a brand new passport, and proof of all my vaccinines for covid. I work from home as a travel agent. I want to travel, but being here with my service animal, a black mini panther kitty named Shadow, is just fine with me. The pool at my new complex, where I just moved a month ago, finally opened. I have a portable air conditioner in my bedroom that keeps the room at about 72 degress. Shadow and I go in there and watch tv or I write on my lap top. All is good, and last year I only drove 1100 miles, much different than the 10 times that which I used to do working at the airport for a private parking company. I did this for 13 years, and sure do not miss going to the airport at 3:30 am, five days a week. I do know the travel industry quite well. I will just wait to go anywhere by plane until my doctor says is safer. The air conditioning works very well in my 25 year old black car with dark tinted windows. I do like driving a lot, but have no desire to drive to new york today or next month, Is on my bucket list to drive cross country someday. I appreciate that you have pointed out John, that the late starting time for pac-12 games could work well if ESPN wants these games. Die hard Duck fans like me can handle 7:30 pdt starting times, especially if it means more tv revenue and more nationwide exposure. I watch many games on Saturdays and Sundays too during football season. With three tvs and voice activated remotes on each one, you would be amazed how many games I can watch. I keep track of each game closely, and as soon as I hit a commercial on any tv, I am outta there, and back to another game. I pray that the new head of the pac-12 that you will see this week, will do all he can to get a new tv deal for the conference. If he does not, we Pac-12 fans will be following a broken model again. If I was UCLA or USC, I would be beyond joyful at the huge increase each school will get by joinging the Big 10. It is now or never for the Pac-12, and they do not need to add any teams. Gonzaga in basketball is always over-rated, and since Mark Few got a DUI before last season started, among other issues, we do not need them in basketball. Their conference is very weak, and all you have to do is see how the teams do in the NCAA tourney each year. Mainly one and done. With the LA schools gone in two years, unless the Pac-12 steps up right now and ditches the Pac-12 tv station ( a poor example of what a Larry Scott run circus can produce) and hooks up for a long term ESPN deal, the Pac-12 will never catch the big boys in football and basketball. Never. Huge tv revenue runs all sports; you either get a great amount of funds from ESPN right now that is locked in and guaranteed, or you can kiss your rear end good by forever. The value of ESPN in billions, is MORE than all pro teams, in all sports, COMBINED . Billions upon more billions. Fact check me. If ESPN does not want to pay you right now, and to a lesser extent FOX, you will get stuck in dreaming of the old days when you could park at Autzen,or do tail gates at any park. Your take on all the cool things to do at a Pac-12 game live in person, hit the nail on the head John. Sure glad we have tv and driving to Eugene for a night game is not as cool as before, unless, of course you spend the night! GO DUCKS, the clock is ticking on the whole conference, just like I hope it is on the dumpster trumpster and whatever circus act he picks this time. DUMP TRUMP 2024 PLEASE VOTE BLUE. Many thanks, Mr. Canzano, for being so fun to read each day! Donnie Duck's Latest
Who let you check out of the nut house? Leave sports and politics out of it… This is about lack of revenue and bad business. And no one gives a shit about your family who is trying to read comments on what people think the pac-12 should do. Really not trying to be mean but get to the point.
We all hope we can make a deal that gets a close to big-10/SEC only way is to link with a streaming service for our lower viewed games that they will probably over pay for to have sports and then market our big name games to those desired 7pm slots with ESPN, Fox, etc. I’m interested to hear what Disney would offer the pac since it owns ESPN/ESPN+ and Hulu to be exclusive to grow their Hulu/espn service. Also I would like to know what the ACC gives the opposing OOC school from their TV revenue. If we can make a contract with the ACC for at home games with big $$ value to be at 7 we might have a chance.
Although I would word it more delicately, I agree that I subscribed to read sports news -- not politics and definitely not about the sportswriter's family.
You need to get a hold of my business partner Dan Beebe ex commish of the Big 12. He predicted all of this realignment 10 years ago and fought against it and got fired because he thought it would not be in the best interest of the student athletes. College Presidents have become politicians not educators. Those presidents should be standing before the press that hired Larry Scott.
Well, the words of Kevin Warren in his opening remarks at Big Ten media days can't come as much comfort to the Pac. Two things stood out:
1) He all but came right out and stated the Big Ten is not done expanding. He didn't get specific on who or when it will happen again, but in discussing it he used words like "bold" and "aggressive."
2) He pretty much said that USC and UCLA will provide the Big Ten football content for the late night TV windows that were previously the exclusive domain of the Pac-12, at least among Power 5 conferences. I doubt that with just two schools out West the Big Ten/Fox could have a full season of late night content, but even just 4-5 weeks a season of Big Ten games at 10:30pm ET could devalue what ESPN, or whoever, would be willing to pay the Pac for those games with the competition for viewers from a bigger-name conference.
My agenda would put USC and UCLA coaches, ADs, and presidents on stage first for a retrospective. What went wrong, from their eyes, why did they proceed as they did, what should have been done differently to keep them. If they wish to sit on the stage for 20 minutes of silence, so be it. Give them the stare down.
There have been issues the schools have had with the Pac-12 media rights distribution. A source from USC’s administration stated that USC and UCLA were contributing 70% of the Pac-12’s media value yet receiving just the 16.66% (8.33% each) equal revenue share distributed back. This wouldn’t have been a problem if the conference’s payouts were competing with the other conferences but instead the Pac-12 was falling rapidly behind. They were told be patient and that it would work out in the long run but it never did.
The pandemic season was the backbreaker. By canceling half the season, it drastically reduced the already low TV revenue distribution from the conference. All the conference schools dealt with it but what disproportionately hurt USC and UCLA was the conference prohibiting fans into the stadiums. Unlike most schools in college football, UCLA and USC don’t have the luxury of an on-campus stadium in which their university owns. This is due to the constraints of their campuses being relatively small while located in a major urban areas of Los Angeles. Instead, they lease, operate, and maintain publicly owned stadiums. They historically shared the same stadium, the Coliseum but in the 1980s UCLA decided to move to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, which is 30 miles from the school. The Coliseum is actually next door to USC but the school doesn’t own it. As such, their athletic departments are highly reliant on season ticket sales, stadium advertising, merchandise and concession sales, stadium parking, and other revenue generating income that typically comes with game days. This had a dire financial outcome with UCLA reporting losses of $62.5 million on the pandemic season alone. This is particularly surprising because UCLA is well known as a fiscally conservative athletic department that rarely even runs deficits. Some of these figures might be exaggerated since UCLA is operating without a lucrative apparel deal it signed which is the subject of a lawsuit that is scheduled for trial next month (which they will very likely recuperate the near the full value of the contract) but besides that which amounts to $11 million it’s still a very hefty bill for a single season of athletics. While we don’t know USC’s financial reports since they are a private institution, based on what we know about their athletic finances, it’s safe to assume they too had similar losses. Thus, they not only were receiving a highly lopsided distribution payout given their value to the conference (70%), the losses from the COVID season was the straw they broke the camel’s back for them financially. Initially, that 70% figure seemed unusually high but in light of most recent reports about the Pac-12’s extremely low offer from ESPN at $25 million payout per school, it may not be far fetched to assume they commanded 70% of the conference value.
There have long been other simmering tensions at play between UCLA/USC and the rest of the conference (at least some members). Historically, USC and UCLA have had tremendous football success largely due to their location in fertile recruiting soil of southern California and ability to lockdown on most prospects coming from the region. There’s no secret they possess the most valued real estate and everyone in the conference seeks to get in on the abundance of talent. The problem is that USC and UCLA have long felt they have been getting the short end of recruiting trade value because most of the rest of the conference does not offer anything remotely similar in depth or quality. As such, take Oregon and the rest of the conference have been benefiting enormously from their rich recruiting pipeline but none of the other Pac-12 schools have similar value to exchange with UCLA/USC. As such, they see this as an imbalance in recruiting trade value, similar to how countries view trade of goods with each other. States like Oregon, Arizona, Washington have some talent but they don’t provide talent that the LA area offers. Thus, moving to the Big Ten opens access to LA from Midwest and east coast schools but in exchange provides UCLA/USC access to Midwest and east coast. That’s a far more mutually beneficial trade for USC/UCLA than the relatively smaller more isolated regions of the Pac-12. Similarly, by connecting themselves to larger swaths of the country in the Big Ten with better time zones for games, USC and UCLA will have far greater exposure and access to much larger numbers of people. The reality is that outside of California, the western portion of the U.S. is sparsely populated with poor game times where few people beyond the region are paying attention. The same applies to academic strength and institutional research. The Big Ten is a highly academic based conference that is not just athletics but also has an academic alliance. This is particularly advantageous to a private school like USC because it helps them cultivate academic links within a network of similar institutions. For UCLA they kind of already have such a setup within the UC system but now they have also a second academic network, providing valuable diversity of research opportunities.
In sum, this move made a lot of sense for these institutions from numerous layers. Of course I’m sure they’re sad to be leaving the Conference of Champions which they chartered in the aftermath of the PCC’s dissolution but adapting to change is also important for continued success. It’s interesting, a lot of the conflicts and disputes coming to the surface now are actually decades old going back to the first iteration of the conference and the conference’s civil war that followed in the late 1950s. Anyone interested, I recommend reading up. The history of the Pac-12/10/8/PCC is the most fascinating conference history in all NCAA. There’s drama, intrigue, factionalism, backstabbing, distrust, scandal, regionalism, unity, mutual respect, shared values, tradition…it has it all.
"The Coliseum is actually next door to USC but the school doesn’t own it. " While technically correct, USC does have full and sole year round financial responsibility for the management, operation, and maintenance of the LA Coliseum - about $15 million a year. They took this over in 2013 from the State-LA County-LA City public ownership committee, and have this responsibility under a master lease management and operations contract until the year 2111. All employees of the Coliseum are in fact USC employees as is the General Manager and Chief Operating Officer (also the USC VP of Auxiliary Services).
I guess you didn’t read the original post. It was not clear as to why ownership of the Coliseum was or wasn’t advantageous to USC. The stadium is managed and operated by the USC Auxiliary Services Department and not the USC Athletic Department. So revenue from non-football events and activities, like parking, and concessions, in the Coliseum do not go to USC Athletics Department.
I appreciate the civil reply. My question had to do with the relevance of SC's position vis-a-vis the Coliseum and the concerns now facing the conference with SC and UCLA leaving.
Yes, you are correct, my comment was just trying to clarify USC’s Athletic Department doesn’t get as much revenue for home games at the Coliseum as one might assume, but the university does.
why give 'losers' a stage to justify their disgusting and unethical decisions. Give them time at the end and then announce: "I am sorry we have run out of time...but I am sure they will be willing to come back next week to share".
"Hey, I've enjoyed my time here and the opportunity to work alongside you. We've made a great history together. I've been offered a job that's too good to pass up so I'm announcing my resignation."
Boss and colleagues:
"You are a disgusting loser and your decision is unethical!"
I think that you are overlooking the fact that USC and UCLA have all of the power in the relationship -- and always have had. They will control the narrative. (This is why neither school is commenting beyond offical press releases.) Furthermore, everyone already knows the answers to the questions that you posed -- it has been covered everywhere ad nauseum.
No one has commented on the day USC and UCLA announced their departure was the anniversary of Kliavkoff as the Commissioner to the day, is that pure coincidence? Or was this a message sent over the bow by those two teams?
By the quote: "What is George supposed to do when USC lies to his face?”... it would seem it was a message to Kliavkoff, and a very personal one at that... but why such animosity towards a guy that seemed like he was fixing Scott's problems?
No one knows what USC communicated directly to George Kliavkoff during their private meetings. They did not tell him that they were negotiating with the Big Ten but, really, why would they? The Pac-12 was not going to provide USC and UCLA with the $160M-$200M annually that they will be receiving from the Big Ten so the fact that the Pac-12 had no opportunity to make a counteroffer is irrelevant.
What's done is done, we need to strengthen the Pac10 ASAP. First, salvage what we can in terms of media markets in California. That means bring in San Diego State and Fresno State immediately. Next, monopolize the state of Nevada. Bring in Nevada and UNLV. These both make sense. Next, round out our conference by creating two new in State rivalries by adding Utah State and Colorado State. Boom. Now we have the San Diego and Fresno market in California, and we have blanketed 3 additional states in Nevada, Utah, and Colorado. Don't like it, go to hell. It's the best plan out there for us to survive.
John, I think it’s worth pressing GK on how he could be blindsided by UCLA and USC leaving the conference. I just find it hard to believe that something as big as two of the highest profile schools just up and leave and no one had a clue. I get the line that he was lied to but that just seems a bit fishy to me. Would like to hear you press GK on how that could happen and what his plan is to prevent these huge setbacks from occurring in the future.
Happened to the BigXII, too. Unfortunately, SC and UCLA probably observed the obvious. Kliavkoff may be a good guy, but he doesn't know anything about the fynamics of college football. He probably didn't even ask the right questions of those two. They could have waved a flag in front of him and he wouldn't have noticed.
The Presidents and Chancellors carelessly killed, or damn near, the Pac-12 football golden goose. Larry Scott needed to be fired years ago.
By the way, stop the Big12 comparisons. No one cares whether they are worse off than the Pac 10 or not. Who's the tallest little person is irrelevant in a room with two seven-footers.
Understand your concern but the comparisons are imo absolutely relevant to most readership as we seek to undertand what might transpire and who has the leverage in the conference marketplace
John, you neglect to stated that the Navigate data show the PAC passing the Big 12 while still having USC and UCLA. It doesn't reflect their move to the B1G.
The distributions were projected with a 12-team split. They'll now be a 10-team split. The number will dictate that, but yeah... the data showed the Pac-12 passing the Big 12... which was good. It also showed the SEC and Big Ten pulling away (even without the LA schools), which was not good.
I think you are missing my point. That valuation still had USC and UCLA baked into the PAC. Yes you will only divide by 10 but that top collective number isnt going to be the number you divide by now after losing the LA teams.
The point of the passage was that the trajectory of the Pac-12 was alarming even a decade ago. The Big Ten and SEC -- the conferences the Pac-12 wants to measure vs. -- were already pulling away.
Perfect example of a liberal. Bereft of factual arguments, you resort to vicious name calling, your comments lack any connection with reality, and you close by demanding an end to my rights. Yep, you are a perfect example of what's ruining the West Coast, destroying liberty, holding down poor people, murdering babies, etc.
What proof does the we AD have that USC lied to his face? Short changing USC'S revenue share over the years had to irk them. Don't blame them for bolting.
Thanks. John, for this very thorough and informative discussion of what's been wrong with the way the heads of the PAC 12 colleges have functioned with the Commissioner. It's too bad only two are still around. The other 10 should have to face the music for their failures.
You cannot be up front and candid when you are in the midst of confidential negotiations. (You don't show your hand when you play cards). It would be nice if the behind the scenes dialogues could produce tangible results that could be made public. And bashing USC/UCLA doesn't win any points either. I am sure he will take the high ground, but show his determination to keep the PAC 10 solvent.
Hey John: Your piece yesterday comparing the pac-12 to the Big 12 was very informative, and I like learning things from you on the Bald Faced truth! What you wrote today about the Pac-12 media day was good also. I hope the new pac-12 commisch comes through for the pac-12. If he has one hint of being like Larry Scott, I will be very upset. I do not like the late starts for the pac-12. I was back east a few years ago and wanted to watch the Ducks on tv. My nephew, who lives in Virginia, wanted to see the Huskies too. Both games were late starts, like 10:30 pm. As you have stated before, how many pac-12 fans who now live back east, will be able to gear up their football Saturday for a game that will not be over before 2 am? I loved visiting my nephew and his wife and their two five year old twins, one boy and one girl. Now they have a third child, just born. Both parents went to Stanford, as did my brother in law. My nephew loves sports like me. He only went to school for like eight years after he graduated from the Cardinal, and now has a PHD in economics. His wife has a doctorate in pharmacy, and works in a hospital, with a medical doctor seeing patients. My nephew grew up a Husky in Seattle. He took me to a Washington National baseball game in 2015, when I first visited them. It was a beautiful new park, built in an industrial area. The only real access was by subway, and d.c. has a newer system that we used a lot.. This is the same trip that I went to Yankee stadium for two games. I hope to go back soon, however even though I have had four pfizer covid shots, my Kaiser physician has advised me to not travel by air unless it is absolutely necessary. She further said to avoid all cruise ships, even though now they are serving Astoria, Oregon. The risk by air is such: say the guy next to you on the plane has not been vaccinated, even though you have a mask that you do not remove. So your neighbor has covid, he is eating and drinking and could end up coughing on you. I am almost 71, and contrary to what many trumpsters I know think, I know covid is real, as is global warming. I am a very strong liberal Christian democrat who has never voted for a republican for President and never will. My new title for what I write on same site as you, is called Donnie Duck's Latest. It is Pac-12, Duck football, liberal democrat, and DUMP TRUMP 2024. If these people do not want to get vaccinated, is their right. If they want to die from covid, is up to them. They are being very selfish by not thinking about the people they are around. I have a brand new passport, and proof of all my vaccinines for covid. I work from home as a travel agent. I want to travel, but being here with my service animal, a black mini panther kitty named Shadow, is just fine with me. The pool at my new complex, where I just moved a month ago, finally opened. I have a portable air conditioner in my bedroom that keeps the room at about 72 degress. Shadow and I go in there and watch tv or I write on my lap top. All is good, and last year I only drove 1100 miles, much different than the 10 times that which I used to do working at the airport for a private parking company. I did this for 13 years, and sure do not miss going to the airport at 3:30 am, five days a week. I do know the travel industry quite well. I will just wait to go anywhere by plane until my doctor says is safer. The air conditioning works very well in my 25 year old black car with dark tinted windows. I do like driving a lot, but have no desire to drive to new york today or next month, Is on my bucket list to drive cross country someday. I appreciate that you have pointed out John, that the late starting time for pac-12 games could work well if ESPN wants these games. Die hard Duck fans like me can handle 7:30 pdt starting times, especially if it means more tv revenue and more nationwide exposure. I watch many games on Saturdays and Sundays too during football season. With three tvs and voice activated remotes on each one, you would be amazed how many games I can watch. I keep track of each game closely, and as soon as I hit a commercial on any tv, I am outta there, and back to another game. I pray that the new head of the pac-12 that you will see this week, will do all he can to get a new tv deal for the conference. If he does not, we Pac-12 fans will be following a broken model again. If I was UCLA or USC, I would be beyond joyful at the huge increase each school will get by joinging the Big 10. It is now or never for the Pac-12, and they do not need to add any teams. Gonzaga in basketball is always over-rated, and since Mark Few got a DUI before last season started, among other issues, we do not need them in basketball. Their conference is very weak, and all you have to do is see how the teams do in the NCAA tourney each year. Mainly one and done. With the LA schools gone in two years, unless the Pac-12 steps up right now and ditches the Pac-12 tv station ( a poor example of what a Larry Scott run circus can produce) and hooks up for a long term ESPN deal, the Pac-12 will never catch the big boys in football and basketball. Never. Huge tv revenue runs all sports; you either get a great amount of funds from ESPN right now that is locked in and guaranteed, or you can kiss your rear end good by forever. The value of ESPN in billions, is MORE than all pro teams, in all sports, COMBINED . Billions upon more billions. Fact check me. If ESPN does not want to pay you right now, and to a lesser extent FOX, you will get stuck in dreaming of the old days when you could park at Autzen,or do tail gates at any park. Your take on all the cool things to do at a Pac-12 game live in person, hit the nail on the head John. Sure glad we have tv and driving to Eugene for a night game is not as cool as before, unless, of course you spend the night! GO DUCKS, the clock is ticking on the whole conference, just like I hope it is on the dumpster trumpster and whatever circus act he picks this time. DUMP TRUMP 2024 PLEASE VOTE BLUE. Many thanks, Mr. Canzano, for being so fun to read each day! Donnie Duck's Latest
Who let you check out of the nut house? Leave sports and politics out of it… This is about lack of revenue and bad business. And no one gives a shit about your family who is trying to read comments on what people think the pac-12 should do. Really not trying to be mean but get to the point.
We all hope we can make a deal that gets a close to big-10/SEC only way is to link with a streaming service for our lower viewed games that they will probably over pay for to have sports and then market our big name games to those desired 7pm slots with ESPN, Fox, etc. I’m interested to hear what Disney would offer the pac since it owns ESPN/ESPN+ and Hulu to be exclusive to grow their Hulu/espn service. Also I would like to know what the ACC gives the opposing OOC school from their TV revenue. If we can make a contract with the ACC for at home games with big $$ value to be at 7 we might have a chance.
Amen!
Although I would word it more delicately, I agree that I subscribed to read sports news -- not politics and definitely not about the sportswriter's family.
You need to get a hold of my business partner Dan Beebe ex commish of the Big 12. He predicted all of this realignment 10 years ago and fought against it and got fired because he thought it would not be in the best interest of the student athletes. College Presidents have become politicians not educators. Those presidents should be standing before the press that hired Larry Scott.
Well, the words of Kevin Warren in his opening remarks at Big Ten media days can't come as much comfort to the Pac. Two things stood out:
1) He all but came right out and stated the Big Ten is not done expanding. He didn't get specific on who or when it will happen again, but in discussing it he used words like "bold" and "aggressive."
2) He pretty much said that USC and UCLA will provide the Big Ten football content for the late night TV windows that were previously the exclusive domain of the Pac-12, at least among Power 5 conferences. I doubt that with just two schools out West the Big Ten/Fox could have a full season of late night content, but even just 4-5 weeks a season of Big Ten games at 10:30pm ET could devalue what ESPN, or whoever, would be willing to pay the Pac for those games with the competition for viewers from a bigger-name conference.
My agenda would put USC and UCLA coaches, ADs, and presidents on stage first for a retrospective. What went wrong, from their eyes, why did they proceed as they did, what should have been done differently to keep them. If they wish to sit on the stage for 20 minutes of silence, so be it. Give them the stare down.
There have been issues the schools have had with the Pac-12 media rights distribution. A source from USC’s administration stated that USC and UCLA were contributing 70% of the Pac-12’s media value yet receiving just the 16.66% (8.33% each) equal revenue share distributed back. This wouldn’t have been a problem if the conference’s payouts were competing with the other conferences but instead the Pac-12 was falling rapidly behind. They were told be patient and that it would work out in the long run but it never did.
The pandemic season was the backbreaker. By canceling half the season, it drastically reduced the already low TV revenue distribution from the conference. All the conference schools dealt with it but what disproportionately hurt USC and UCLA was the conference prohibiting fans into the stadiums. Unlike most schools in college football, UCLA and USC don’t have the luxury of an on-campus stadium in which their university owns. This is due to the constraints of their campuses being relatively small while located in a major urban areas of Los Angeles. Instead, they lease, operate, and maintain publicly owned stadiums. They historically shared the same stadium, the Coliseum but in the 1980s UCLA decided to move to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, which is 30 miles from the school. The Coliseum is actually next door to USC but the school doesn’t own it. As such, their athletic departments are highly reliant on season ticket sales, stadium advertising, merchandise and concession sales, stadium parking, and other revenue generating income that typically comes with game days. This had a dire financial outcome with UCLA reporting losses of $62.5 million on the pandemic season alone. This is particularly surprising because UCLA is well known as a fiscally conservative athletic department that rarely even runs deficits. Some of these figures might be exaggerated since UCLA is operating without a lucrative apparel deal it signed which is the subject of a lawsuit that is scheduled for trial next month (which they will very likely recuperate the near the full value of the contract) but besides that which amounts to $11 million it’s still a very hefty bill for a single season of athletics. While we don’t know USC’s financial reports since they are a private institution, based on what we know about their athletic finances, it’s safe to assume they too had similar losses. Thus, they not only were receiving a highly lopsided distribution payout given their value to the conference (70%), the losses from the COVID season was the straw they broke the camel’s back for them financially. Initially, that 70% figure seemed unusually high but in light of most recent reports about the Pac-12’s extremely low offer from ESPN at $25 million payout per school, it may not be far fetched to assume they commanded 70% of the conference value.
There have long been other simmering tensions at play between UCLA/USC and the rest of the conference (at least some members). Historically, USC and UCLA have had tremendous football success largely due to their location in fertile recruiting soil of southern California and ability to lockdown on most prospects coming from the region. There’s no secret they possess the most valued real estate and everyone in the conference seeks to get in on the abundance of talent. The problem is that USC and UCLA have long felt they have been getting the short end of recruiting trade value because most of the rest of the conference does not offer anything remotely similar in depth or quality. As such, take Oregon and the rest of the conference have been benefiting enormously from their rich recruiting pipeline but none of the other Pac-12 schools have similar value to exchange with UCLA/USC. As such, they see this as an imbalance in recruiting trade value, similar to how countries view trade of goods with each other. States like Oregon, Arizona, Washington have some talent but they don’t provide talent that the LA area offers. Thus, moving to the Big Ten opens access to LA from Midwest and east coast schools but in exchange provides UCLA/USC access to Midwest and east coast. That’s a far more mutually beneficial trade for USC/UCLA than the relatively smaller more isolated regions of the Pac-12. Similarly, by connecting themselves to larger swaths of the country in the Big Ten with better time zones for games, USC and UCLA will have far greater exposure and access to much larger numbers of people. The reality is that outside of California, the western portion of the U.S. is sparsely populated with poor game times where few people beyond the region are paying attention. The same applies to academic strength and institutional research. The Big Ten is a highly academic based conference that is not just athletics but also has an academic alliance. This is particularly advantageous to a private school like USC because it helps them cultivate academic links within a network of similar institutions. For UCLA they kind of already have such a setup within the UC system but now they have also a second academic network, providing valuable diversity of research opportunities.
In sum, this move made a lot of sense for these institutions from numerous layers. Of course I’m sure they’re sad to be leaving the Conference of Champions which they chartered in the aftermath of the PCC’s dissolution but adapting to change is also important for continued success. It’s interesting, a lot of the conflicts and disputes coming to the surface now are actually decades old going back to the first iteration of the conference and the conference’s civil war that followed in the late 1950s. Anyone interested, I recommend reading up. The history of the Pac-12/10/8/PCC is the most fascinating conference history in all NCAA. There’s drama, intrigue, factionalism, backstabbing, distrust, scandal, regionalism, unity, mutual respect, shared values, tradition…it has it all.
Great explanation and analysis -- thanks for the insight.
"The Coliseum is actually next door to USC but the school doesn’t own it. " While technically correct, USC does have full and sole year round financial responsibility for the management, operation, and maintenance of the LA Coliseum - about $15 million a year. They took this over in 2013 from the State-LA County-LA City public ownership committee, and have this responsibility under a master lease management and operations contract until the year 2111. All employees of the Coliseum are in fact USC employees as is the General Manager and Chief Operating Officer (also the USC VP of Auxiliary Services).
I stated they “lease, operate, and maintain publicly owned stadiums.”
So?
I guess you didn’t read the original post. It was not clear as to why ownership of the Coliseum was or wasn’t advantageous to USC. The stadium is managed and operated by the USC Auxiliary Services Department and not the USC Athletic Department. So revenue from non-football events and activities, like parking, and concessions, in the Coliseum do not go to USC Athletics Department.
I appreciate the civil reply. My question had to do with the relevance of SC's position vis-a-vis the Coliseum and the concerns now facing the conference with SC and UCLA leaving.
Yes, you are correct, my comment was just trying to clarify USC’s Athletic Department doesn’t get as much revenue for home games at the Coliseum as one might assume, but the university does.
why give 'losers' a stage to justify their disgusting and unethical decisions. Give them time at the end and then announce: "I am sorry we have run out of time...but I am sure they will be willing to come back next week to share".
Employee:
"Hey, I've enjoyed my time here and the opportunity to work alongside you. We've made a great history together. I've been offered a job that's too good to pass up so I'm announcing my resignation."
Boss and colleagues:
"You are a disgusting loser and your decision is unethical!"
Said no one, ever...
Perfect.
I think that you are overlooking the fact that USC and UCLA have all of the power in the relationship -- and always have had. They will control the narrative. (This is why neither school is commenting beyond offical press releases.) Furthermore, everyone already knows the answers to the questions that you posed -- it has been covered everywhere ad nauseum.
No one has commented on the day USC and UCLA announced their departure was the anniversary of Kliavkoff as the Commissioner to the day, is that pure coincidence? Or was this a message sent over the bow by those two teams?
By the quote: "What is George supposed to do when USC lies to his face?”... it would seem it was a message to Kliavkoff, and a very personal one at that... but why such animosity towards a guy that seemed like he was fixing Scott's problems?
No one knows what USC communicated directly to George Kliavkoff during their private meetings. They did not tell him that they were negotiating with the Big Ten but, really, why would they? The Pac-12 was not going to provide USC and UCLA with the $160M-$200M annually that they will be receiving from the Big Ten so the fact that the Pac-12 had no opportunity to make a counteroffer is irrelevant.
In particular one thing I've not seen yet is whether Lincoln Riley knew this was coming or did this catch him by surprise as much as anyone.
I will ask him. I have a 1-on-1 scheduled with him for Friday.
My bet is that he diplomatically declines to discuss anything related to his negotiations with USC.
Why does it matter?
What's done is done, we need to strengthen the Pac10 ASAP. First, salvage what we can in terms of media markets in California. That means bring in San Diego State and Fresno State immediately. Next, monopolize the state of Nevada. Bring in Nevada and UNLV. These both make sense. Next, round out our conference by creating two new in State rivalries by adding Utah State and Colorado State. Boom. Now we have the San Diego and Fresno market in California, and we have blanketed 3 additional states in Nevada, Utah, and Colorado. Don't like it, go to hell. It's the best plan out there for us to survive.
John, I think it’s worth pressing GK on how he could be blindsided by UCLA and USC leaving the conference. I just find it hard to believe that something as big as two of the highest profile schools just up and leave and no one had a clue. I get the line that he was lied to but that just seems a bit fishy to me. Would like to hear you press GK on how that could happen and what his plan is to prevent these huge setbacks from occurring in the future.
Agree. If he had no inkling, he shares Larry Scott's infamous inability to "read the room".
Happened to the BigXII, too. Unfortunately, SC and UCLA probably observed the obvious. Kliavkoff may be a good guy, but he doesn't know anything about the fynamics of college football. He probably didn't even ask the right questions of those two. They could have waved a flag in front of him and he wouldn't have noticed.
Larry Scott....It saddens me every time I hear his name mentioned
Your analisys is excellent,, John.
thanks T
The Presidents and Chancellors carelessly killed, or damn near, the Pac-12 football golden goose. Larry Scott needed to be fired years ago.
By the way, stop the Big12 comparisons. No one cares whether they are worse off than the Pac 10 or not. Who's the tallest little person is irrelevant in a room with two seven-footers.
Understand your concern but the comparisons are imo absolutely relevant to most readership as we seek to undertand what might transpire and who has the leverage in the conference marketplace
John, you neglect to stated that the Navigate data show the PAC passing the Big 12 while still having USC and UCLA. It doesn't reflect their move to the B1G.
The distributions were projected with a 12-team split. They'll now be a 10-team split. The number will dictate that, but yeah... the data showed the Pac-12 passing the Big 12... which was good. It also showed the SEC and Big Ten pulling away (even without the LA schools), which was not good.
I think you are missing my point. That valuation still had USC and UCLA baked into the PAC. Yes you will only divide by 10 but that top collective number isnt going to be the number you divide by now after losing the LA teams.
The point of the passage was that the trajectory of the Pac-12 was alarming even a decade ago. The Big Ten and SEC -- the conferences the Pac-12 wants to measure vs. -- were already pulling away.
Perfect example of a liberal. Bereft of factual arguments, you resort to vicious name calling, your comments lack any connection with reality, and you close by demanding an end to my rights. Yep, you are a perfect example of what's ruining the West Coast, destroying liberty, holding down poor people, murdering babies, etc.
What proof does the we AD have that USC lied to his face? Short changing USC'S revenue share over the years had to irk them. Don't blame them for bolting.