Canzano: TV picking apart college football

Oregon, Washington, Stanford and Cal on block next?

The Pac-12 still doesn’t have a TV deal. (Photo: JohnCanzano.com)

I get it. Television is a business. Media companies have profits to turn and money to make. But in the end, I’m left wondering if TV cares about the wreckage the industry is causing in pursuit of it.

The Pac-12 is in trouble.

The conference has made some strategic errors, blown the messaging and overplayed its hand. But it still has a line of wonderful schools, excellent brands, good media markets and talented college football teams.

So why is TV reluctant to buy it?

Well, in part, because it doesn’t have to — as long as it can destroy the conference and pick apart the carcass. Fox didn’t need to make a big bid on the Pac-12’s rights. Not after it captured the Los Angeles TV market and 5.7 million television homes when USC and UCLA defected for the Big Ten. Then, last week Fox grabbed Denver via the Big 12’s acquisition of Colorado.

What’s today’s target?

Phoenix, of course.

Then, maybe the Bay Area, Seattle and Portland. On Wednesday, the Big Ten Conference presidents reportedly opened preliminary talks to explore additional expansion. They may decide to add Oregon, Washington, Stanford and Cal. It’s early there. They’re just exploring. But it’s a full-on chess game now, being played by a merry band of pirates.

In the last year, more than half of the remaining members of the Pac-12’s CEO Group told me that they believed the conference was positioned to get a solid media deal. They echoed each other and preached solidarity and unity. They were confident they’d get market value for their product and stick together. Now, we’re all left wondering if a subscription-based deal heavy on Apple TV+ will be enough.

One of the remaining “Four Corners” athletic directors confessed a few days ago that the negotiating landscape was difficult. He believed Arizona, ASU and Utah wanted to stick together, see commissioner George Kliavkoff’s presentation, and ideally remain in the Pac-12.

What were the threats?

• Peers from other conferences trying to “take the league,” he said.

• TV executives trying to “own it all,” he offered.

• A “major influence” from one TV group, in particular, he noted.

What TV group exactly?

“Fox,” he said.

The Arizona Board of Regents met in executive session on Tuesday. Will Arizona and Arizona State split up? Stay together? Join forces with Utah and stay in the Pac-12… or leave it for good? Those are heavy questions and it’s difficult for me not to believe Fox is rooting hard for the demise of the Pac-12. After all, if all hell breaks loose it might pick up Oregon, Washington, Cal and Stanford under its the Big Ten contract at a hefty discount.

Television isn’t just responsible for late kickoffs, longer game times, and the loss of traditions and rivalries. Its greed has effectively squeezed the landscape into thinking there isn’t room for more than maybe 50 or 60 schools as long as the key media markets are captured and controlled.

Again, I get it. Shareholders need results. Television is a business. These are tough times in the media world, but live sports programming is one of the few revenue streams actually pulling its weight. Disney CEO Bob Iger said that sports is one of the places that still “stands tall.” Which should make us all wonder why the Pac-12 doesn’t already have a signed deal.

Did the conference and its consultants piss off Fox by asking for $50 million per school in the early part of the negotiation? Or when it asked Fox’s remote broadcast crews to show up on site to football games? Should the Pac-12 have just taken the network’s first offer and kept quiet because the alternative literally meant an existential reckoning? Are there some antitrust issues that lawmakers should unpack?

The Pac-12 probably could have likely cut an early deal with Fox/ESPN and left the Big 12 holding the bag. But I’d still feel the same way. There’s something about the role of television in all of this that feels icky.

I don’t know what’s going to happen to the Pac-12 in the next few days. It could be Apple is seeking a linear partner to help sweeten the deal. It could be the Pac-12 finds one by itself. Or doesn’t. As retired Fox Sports Networks President Bob Thompson told me on Wednesday morning: “The deals are never over until they’re signed.”

The Pac-12 is a great conference with loads of rich history. I keep thinking about all the great players and coaches who suited up over the years. Also, the fan bases that have been left in agony and limbo for the last 14 months.

They deserved better.

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