Breaking news this morning from the Sports Business Journal, which is reporting that FOX has won the rights to broadcast the inaugural Pac-12 championship game on Dec. 3. The news has since been officially confirmed by the Pac-10.
The amount SBJ is reporting for the rights, which has not been confirmed by the conference, is staggering:
Industry sources said Fox is paying the Pac-12 $25M for the championship game and other game inventory that is the result of the conference's expansion from 10 teams to 12. The Pac-12's championship game is valued at around $14.5M, sources said; the other $10.5M is part of a prior contractual obligation.
The $25 million is all new money to the conference -- the $10.5 million is a payoff for having the rights to broadcast on FSN the extra games that are generated from having a 12-team conference. That's an infusion of cash of roughly $2 million a school for simply adding two teams and holding one more football game. And you know that more is to come in the future when the championship game is part of the inventory of the new television deal.
Also, it's not a huge shock that FOX was the winner here, given that the network will also be broadcasting the Big Ten championship game earlier that morning later that evening. One has to assume FOX wanted to get back into the college football game after losing its four BCS games to ESPN. And anything that keeps ESPN from furthering its football monopoly is all right by me.
What will Bill Moos do with an extra couple million? I don't know for sure, but I bet he'll think of something ...
