Report: Pac-12, ESPN counteroffer details revealed following collapse

As the Pac-12 went through its media rights negotiations, the league heard from multiple suitors. No deal came to fruition, though, as 10 teams left the league in the aftermath of George Kliavkoff’s presentation about a deal with Apple.

Once the dust settled on the Pac-12’s departures, reports said ESPN presented a deal that would net each school $30 million. However, a university president worked with a professor at their school and came up with a $50 million per school figure, and the Pac-12 presented a counteroffer. ESPN walked away.

Friday, John Canzano of The Bald Faced Truth reported Utah president Taylor Randall was the one who worked to get that number of $50 million. Randall provided a statement to Canzano about the situation.

“The Pac-12 Presidents and Chancellors worked collectively in pursuit of a new media rights agreement,” Randall said in a statement to Canzano. “Though an offer was made by one of our media partners, we elected to take the rights to market to get the best deal. Throughout the process, many of the CEOs — including myself — pushed to ensure that the conference was aggressive to secure the very best agreement we could.

“Several conference schools retained their own consultants to value the league, which resulted in a range of estimations. It is my understanding that any mention of $50 million, which was higher than any valuation, was only as a potential starting point in negotiations to help get us to the estimated true value.”

This story will be updated.

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