Pac-12 media rights: Exclusive negotiating window closes; conference hits the open market eyeing big dollars, array of partners

The Pac-12’s media rights negotiations have entered a crucial new phase that will shape the future of the conference.

The exclusive negotiating window with ESPN and Fox has concluded without an extension of the current agreements, according to an industry source.

The development allows the Pac-12 to take the entirety of its football and men’s basketball inventory to the open market to solicit bids from other media companies and potentially drive up the price, a process that could take several months.

According to sources, the open-market negotiations are expected to include at least one major digital player (Amazon or Apple) along with the Pac-12’s current partners, ESPN and Fox, and possibly others.

The shift in direction of the negotiations had been expected all along — the Pac-12 would only have agreed to extend its contracts with ESPN and Fox if they had made offers (for their existing allotment of games) that the conference couldn’t refuse.

With all the rights now available to any interested media company, the Pac-12 can create packages of inventory and craft agreements with a variety of partners, therefore driving up the total value of its rights package.

“The Pac-12 is going to be fine,” a second industry source said. “Are they going to make all the money they want? I don’t know. But if they don’t, they won’t be far off.”

The Sports Business Journal on Friday was the first to report the end of the exclusive window.

When that window began remains a mystery.

On July 5, less than a week after USC and UCLA accepted invitations to join the Big Ten, the Pac-12 presidents authorized commissioner Georgia Kliavkoff to begin negotiating a new media deal for the contract cycle beginning in the summer of 2024.

As the existing rights-holders, ESPN and Fox were entitled to an exclusive negotiating period. But no specifics were given, either for the start of the exclusive window or its duration.

Many presumed that a 30-day period began soon after the presidents gave their consent. And in that case, it would have expired sometime in August.

However, if the start was delayed until late August — after the Big Ten concluded its media rights agreement — or if the window lasted longer than 30 days, then this later-than-expected closing would make sense.

The lack of a deal suggests ESPN and Fox did not make the Pac-12 an offer it couldn’t refuse.

At the same time, the development could be favorable for the conference if a third party (or a fourth) has serious interest in forging an agreement.