Canzano: Pac-12 expansion (and TV deal) on the horizon
"The CW is alive and kicking..."
The Pac-12 is knee-deep in trying to sell its media rights. The eight-member conference still needs to expand and add at least one more ‘all-sports’ school for 2026.
How many additions will the Pac-12 make? Is Memphis still in play? How about Tulane? UNLV? Someone else? Which candidates make sense? How does the league’s media rights negotiation impact the decisions? And what’s the timeline?
The Oregon State-Washington State football game on Saturday drew an audience of 695,000 viewers on The CW. That was celebrated at Pac-12 headquarters. It was the most-watched football game of the season on the network. The audience surged in the fourth quarter to 990,000 viewers as the Beavers got in position to kick a field goal to win, 41-38.
How does the TV data help the league’s cause? Are The CW and the Pac-12 about to enter a long-term relationship? What do media-world sources say about the potential expansion options? What happens next?
What I know…