ESPN has reported that the PAC 12 Conference and Apple have been in negotiations for a while and that a streaming deal could be going to Apple TV+ for the conference’s college football and college basketball.
PAC 12 commissioner George Kliavkoff spoke during a meeting with other conference presidents about the possibility of PAC 12 conference games being broadcast through Apple TV+. This partnership between the PAC 12 and Apple would begin after this season after the conference’s current TV contract expires. Both FOX and ESPN have media rights deals with the PAC 12 which expire on July 1, 2024.
Apple is said to be the front-runner for a deal like this but there have been other competitors in the mix. Two listed competitors have been ESPN and The CW, according to Cord Cutters News.
The first year of the TV contract is expected to start for the 2024-2025 college football and basketball seasons. This is how it was described in the report from ESPN:
“According to sources, the first year of what’s expected to be a relatively short-term contract with Apple would start in 2024-25 and begin relatively low relative to the league’s hopes. But the deal, sources said, would incrementally improve and potentially be competitive with its peers in the Big 12 and ACC down the road, provided certain subscription numbers are met…After the meeting Tuesday morning, there remained ambiguity about the potential value of the Pac-12 deal because of the unknown variance of subscriptions. Sources familiar with the negotiations told ESPN the Pac-12 is in a better position now than it was a month and a half ago to sell digital subscriptions thanks to changes in the media landscape.”
For Apple, this would be its third major sports media deal. The first two were with the MLB (MLB Friday Night Baseball) and MLS (MLS Season Pass).
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