My two cents: Pac-12 Networks, DirecTV mess could be Scott's undoingΒ
Pac-12 commissionerΒ Larry Scottβs contract runs for three more school years, through June 2018, with a total compensation estimated at $3.5 million per year.
If thatβs not security, what is?
But his failure to reach a deal with DirecTV last week is a blow of such significance that you wonder if the leagueβs chancellors and athletic directors might begin to wonder if heβs the person to take them forward. The potential profitability and distribution growth of the Pac-12 Networks is stalled.
Almost every athletic director expected more than a $21 million per-year return from Scottβs media rights deal, and more than last yearβs $1 million-per-school take from the Pac-12 Networks.
Most of Scottβs accomplishments were put on a tee for him (or anyone) replacing the old administration.
The $3.1 billion media rights package was, it looks now, average. The addition of Utah and Colorado didnβt turn heads (except in Denver and Salt Lake City). Moving the menβs basketball tournament to Las Vegas was a no-brainer.
Scott has taken significant heat for late start times in football and basketball. The Pac-12 Networks is bland and often unwatchable, populated with a flank of not-ready-for-prime-time analysts and on-air personalities. Its standard fare in live broadcasts is a Washington State-Arizona State basketball game and an Oregon State-Colorado football game.
The inability to become part of the DirecTV lineup stalls the league with an unimpressive 4 million subscribers within the Pac-12 footprint. And in a league with unprecedented spending at each school, nobodyβs going to get rich off that.
