Larry Scott may have the last laugh after all... all the way to the bank.
While many fans and pundits initially laughed off the Pac-12’s plan to raise between $500 and $750 million from investors into the conference and it’s media rights/networks back in March, the league is reportedly closer than many expected to realizing that reality. Sports Business Journal is saying that a decision on the matter will ultimately come in a few months but the Pac-12 has indeed received multiple (!) bids on a stake in the new venture of at least three-quarters of a billion dollars.
The Pac-12 has "multiple bids of at least $750 million in hand from companies looking to become equity investors in the conference," reports @SmittySBJ in tonight's SBJ College newsletter. Final decision to come "in months." https://t.co/HgwIBzLEgl pic.twitter.com/FVeRYyp2vK
— John Ourand (@Ourand_SBJ) June 7, 2019
It’s no secret that the Pac-12 has fallen behind Power Five peers like the SEC and Big Ten when it comes to media revenue in recent years. The West Coast-based venture saw a slight decrease in revenue distributed this past year and was pretty much even with the ACC in doling out $29.5 million to all 12 schools. That’s a far cry from the SEC payout of $43.1 million or the record $54 million that Big Ten schools received.
Enter the equity sale as a way to make up that gap and infuse a large chunk of change into the league itself. The Pac-12 is unique in that it does not partner with either ESPN or Fox for their conference networks and will eventually have all their media rights (from football and beyond) up for sale at the same time in a few years.
It’s probably too early to see how this will all shake out but the outside-the-box thinking that many dismissed initially might actually turn into quite the windfall for the Pac-12 sooner than expected. Something says Scott and company will provide an update in July at football media day in Hollywood but until then the conference will have to ruminate on this rare bit of good news for the league’s coffers.