Incoming Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff will take over his position on July 1. And once the job becomes official, Kliavkoff will have plenty of issues to deal with. But none of those issues will be bigger than the conference’s upcoming media rights negotiations.
Back in 2011, Larry Scott and the (then) Pac-10 landed a record breaking 12-year, $2.7 billion dollar media rights deal with FOX and ESPN. The contract also allowed the conference to maintain control of secondary rights, including certain football and men’s basketball games, that they would eventually land on the Pac-12 Network.
At the time, the deal was seen as a major victory for the conference.