Arizona State president Michael Crow || Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics
Jeremy Cluff
Arizona Republic
Did a professor help bring about the collapse of the Pac-12?
And does the professor possibly work at Arizona State?
Rumors are circulating about Arizona State President Michael Crow, a staunch Pac-12 supporter, in the wake of a very interesting recent report from the Los Angeles Times about one potential part of the Pac-12 Conference’s demise.
J. Brady McCollough wrote in the report that after USC and UCLA had agreed to leave the Pac-12 for the Big Ten, George Kliavkoff, the Pac-12 Commissioner, brought Pac-12 schools a media rights offer of $30 million annually per school from ESPN amid the contract’s saga for a TV deal.
But that deal was rejected by Pac-12 leaders.
Why?
McCollough wrote: “When the Pac-12 CEO group met to discuss the offer, one of the league presidents had other ideas. The president worked with a professor on his campus to come up with their own estimate of what the 10 schools should get based on their market value: $50 million.”
The story continued: “George and our media consultant were pretty clear there was some risk, but they said, ‘Nope, our numbers show we’re worth this, go ask for it,’ a source with direct knowledge of the negotiations not authorized to speak publicly about them told The Times.“
How did ESPN react to the Pac-12’s counteroffer?
