There is a big reason why we are at the crossroads of the conference reorganization. It centers around a 51-year-old media executive who’s been pulling strings behind the scenes for some time.
No matter how this round of restructuring ends, Mark Shapiro will have a big stake. The president of Endeavor, a powerful global sports, entertainment and content company, is currently advising the Big 12 on their next media rights deal after his current deal expires before his 2025 season.
You probably already know that the Big 12 are in the process of reorganizing for their second summer in a row. It may be looking west to get members for the Pac-12. At the same time, College Athletic anticipates a new media rights deal for the Big Ten, which will be announced in due course. It may be the largest ever.
The two things are not unrelated. In 2004, Shapiro, then an ESPN executive, presented former Big His Ten his commissioner Jim Delaney with a deal on whether to renew his contract with Worldwide his leader. Delaney rejected what he perceived to be a modest offer.
“You’re rolling the dice,” Shapiro infamously told Delaney.
“Think of them rolling,” Delaney replied.
Delany also monetized its meeting rights by taking some of the meeting rights in-house and starting its own channel. The Big Ten His network was a huge success, and subsequent conference expansions to Nebraska, Maryland, and Rutgers contributed to its success. These moves have provided more content not just to the network, but to Linear Cable his partners his Fox and his ESPN.
Delaney then made another great move to bring us to this moment. In 2017, he signed a short, six-year, $2.64 billion deal with FOX and ESPN, landing the Big Ten in their current vantage point, signing a more than $1 billion annual media rights deal. It’s on the verge.
The circle is almost complete. Shapiro is almost certainly one of those waiting for conference adjustments and possibly Big Ten announcements that will reshape college athletics. / Or possibly further consolidate power within the Big Ten (and SEC).
Perhaps it wouldn’t have been possible if Delaney’s vision hadn’t been accelerated by Shapiro’s modest bid. So far, Shapiro has been well received for his work on the Big 12. In fact, the conference’s Athletic Director is scratching his head at what Endeavor has already accomplished by placing the Big 12 slightly ahead of the Pac 12. Earning power.
Excluding Texas and Oklahoma, the Big 12 are valued at more than $30 million a year per school, CBS Sports reported last week.
“The numbers seem to be working in our favor,” said one Big 12 AD. “It’s not a lot. It’s not like comparing Texas to Texas. But there seems to be a noticeable difference.”
meeting notes
Further expansion could lead to legal issues
The only conference commissioner to run a 16-team league in modern times has issued a warning to the SEC and the Big Ten.
Former WAC commissioner Karl Benson led 16 members from 1996-98 before the league collapsed. A Senate hearing was called when BYU was dropped from the Bowl Alliance (predecessor to the BCS) despite becoming the first Division IA (now FBS) team to win 14 games. The word “collusion” has been used here and there in reference to the power of college football to keep other programs at bay. The word may appear again.
“Maybe that’s why Washington and Oregon didn’t adopt USC and UCLA. [to the Big Ten] At the same time, there are fears of collusion,” the now-retired Benson told CBS Sports.
The stakes are higher this time around. The SEC and Big Ten have a chance to dominate the sport. Perhaps it has already happened. Both leagues’ administrators downplay awareness of antitrust issues. Well, sometimes. SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said his league could make the playoffs.
“[No one has] If the Big Ten destroy the conference and take Washington and Oregon, [if I was Pac-12 commissioner] George Kryavkov, I may pursue antitrust law there. ”
Big Ten interest in Pac-12 team has cooled
after last week’s anxiety Further expansion of the Big Tenindustry sources indicate the Big Ten are no longer interested in adding California, Oregon, Stamford and Washington. $100 million) to these schools.
These four programs may eventually have a choice, but the Big Ten are focused on new deals for 2023, trying to lure Notre Dame, who has an open invitation. A growing number of stakeholders believe Fighting Irish will eventually remain independent.
lost opportunity
Let’s not forget that the Pac-12 had a chance to strengthen its ranks last year when the Big 12 was hurt by Texas and Oklahoma’s exits to the SEC. A source told CBS Sports this week that the Pac-12 vote was 8-4 against him being hired by the Big 12 school. Interesting to find the Pac-12 school he voted for expansion a year ago.We already know USC President Carol Fort “shut down” interest in expansion.
“We all would have jumped,” one of the Big 12’s ADs told CBS Sports about the Pac-12’s interest in making its way to Texas.
The future of the Pac-12 may depend on time zones
Late-night West Coast games are referred to as the “Fourth Window” (after 10 PM ET). As many ribs as Pac-12 received for these games (#Pac12AfterDark), there is no way around them. It is a valuable program that fills the late-night frame with a guaranteed audience rating.
So the key to the Pac-12 is the late window. It could be why ESPN is able to remain involved in the conference beyond the reported 30-day exclusive negotiation period expiry Thursday. There is a nature. Fox is already set there with his deal with Mountain West.
One industry course speculates: If ESPN doesn’t get part of the Big Ten, will it go all-in with the rest of the Pac-12? More importantly, ESPN wins a piece of the Big Ten, will the Pac-12 remain on the market without the interest of either of the two biggest college football rights holders (ESPN, Fox)?
“It’s a big advantage for us to basically get what we need in an expansion. [the Pac-12]a Big 12 source told CBS Sports.
Big 12 still well positioned
The Foxes and the Big 12 disagreed five years ago when the conference added a championship game. Figures weren’t available, but sources say Fox told Big 12 media he doesn’t want to pay what consultants think the game is worth.Published last summer by former Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlesby A jarring ESPN takedown As any of us have experienced. But when it comes to media rights, the heart of business, the past can always be the past.
The Big 12 remain involved with both Fox and ESPN for new rights deals starting in 2025.
