Will Amazon Or Apple TV + Offer The Pac-12 Deal They Can’t Say No To?

By Jim Williams

If we’re to believe what we’re reading in the trade press, the new Pac-12 media deal with ESPN, Amazon Prime Video, and Apple TV+ remains on the table. What we’ve been reading in the tea leaves is that potential conversations are heavy on distribution in the form of TV.

In an ideal world, Pac-12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff would have CBS, ESPN, Fox, NBC and possibly even broadcasters like Amazon or Apple taking part in the package. Kliavkoff, he doesn’t live in the same country where his options remain with Apple, Amazon, and ESPN which means more potential for more games and fewer games on traditional shelves.

NASHVILLE, TN – DECEMBER 29

When I sat down to write this article it was to explain how it would be difficult to say no to Amazon or Apple because a lot of research and development money goes into member schools not to mention the alumni at the bottom who work in technology companies. less than an hour from the Pac-12 offices. But things have changed so fast that it’s hard to say yes. Signs point to Apple TV as the frontrunner and efforts are being made by Kliavkoff, to create a package that includes ESPN and Amazon.

(As is the case with everything that has been done with this contract that the director can change.)

A note to speed controllers who want to be exposed to Apple and Amazon for favoring an outdoor partner. Maybe they didn’t listen to the possibilities for this to happen and take a smaller football package from ESPN that would take a few games on the network but maybe a bigger package on their ESPN+.

It should be said that Apple CEO Tim Cook is a college sports fan and an alum of Auburn where he shows up on the sidelines of football games but when basketball season comes around he attends Duke where he earned his undergraduate degree. In 2019 less than a month after Apple TV+ Cook launched Apple TV+ Cook made it clear that he wanted Pac-12 independence and sent some of his executives to meet with then-governor Larry Scott. Find out what it will take to get the freedom you didn’t have until 2024.

In an interview in 2019 with the San Francisco Examiner, the former president of Pac-12 Networks, Mark Shuken, said that Apple “is interested in finding out more about the rights and learning more about the business to know if they can be partners in 2024.” Shuken closed with. “He said that, in hindsight, we seem like a good partner to explore. Apple wants the Pac-12 conference “a package of media rights, not digital.”

Even after USC and UCLA were gone, Cook never gave up on his goal of securing the Pac-12’s media rights. Now four years later, he can say yes, not because he was the first choice, but maybe because he focused all his attention on receiving the award.

In Pac-12 Academics Matter and Tech Companies Rule:

The Pac-12 charter places success in the classroom before success in athletics and members are proud to annually rank among the top conferences in bringing in more annual research money than most other Power 5 conferences. The Pac-12’s graduation rate is also among the top. of the Power 5 conferences and in 2022 Stanford graduated 96% followed by Utah 93%, so it is clear that education means something to the schools with each member and keeping the athletics in the mix. it’s the reason why they watch what’s coming on social media.

Pac-12 leaders are in a unique position and have been recruiting students to their institutions using their close ties to the arts, especially in California and Washington state. From working as research and development tools to internships, leading to jobs for graduates, all Pac-12 member schools have benefited from the conference’s relationships with Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google/YouTube, Microsoft, Yahoo, and countless companies. , which is based on supporting technology companies.

Stanford is home to Apple’s multi-million dollar Virtual Reality research and development lab and the medical school is at loggerheads with the company over the Apple Watch’s heart monitoring app. Research done by the environment in November 2022 confirmed the position of Cal and Stanford in the field of technology.

Stanford has the largest number of people (16,326) who are employed in the most advanced technology centers such as Google, Amazon, and Apple, and the University of California Berkeley, across the Bay, a second with 16,124 where most of the students are employed. from all Pac-12 schools to graduate with business degrees.

Up the coast in Seattle, the University of Washington and Amazon have joined forces to create a Science Hub, an effort that will expand the relationship between the two institutions and advance the innovation of robotics, artificial intelligence technologies, and their services.

Amazon’s initial investment of $1.9 million will support many programs, including fellowships for doctoral students, collaboration between researchers, and support for research activities. The primary goal of the center will be to accelerate AI, robotics, and engineering in the Seattle area and embrace the surrounding schools and community through events.

There are currently 17,000 graduates who have landed jobs at Amazon or Microsoft not to mention small tech companies in the Seattle area. Washington State is involved in technology and at a lower rate than its rival in Seattle, but it is not insignificant.

Ever heard of Silicon Forest? Well, if you go to Oregon or Oregon State then you know about a top school that has a lot of companies that get good business. Apple and Amazon have a large presence in Silicon Forest and actively recruit students from Oregon and Oregon State.

Meanwhile, Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah all have strong technology departments that have benefited from the conference’s relationship with technology companies. Both Arizona and Utah were supported by their relationships with other Pac-12 schools to become members of the Association of American Universities (AAU) which is highly respected among the 66 top research institutions in the country.

You can win in the classroom and on the field as Stanford proved by winning 131 NCAA team national championships, the most of any Division 1 school. Stanford has won NCAA team championships in 20 different sports.

Apple plans to close.

We are told that Commissioner Kliavkoff, who has been part of the witness transfer program for the past month, is about to take action, he more than anyone knows the value of the package he will deliver. If Apple TV + is going to be a big deal if you want it Tim Cook is a hell of a business and he calmed the fears of MLS owners in a conference call before the deal.

Kliavkoff will also have access to Cook’s right-hand man Eddy Cue, Apple’s Vice President of Services, who arranged the giant’s agreement to show every MLS game through a platform that connects them to the league. It was also Cue who met with Fox Sports President Eric Shanks to set up a package of 15 games that Apple would produce and air on the network.

“As part of the agreement with Apple we discussed the idea, and they agreed and they accepted the idea to do the agreements that were chosen to continue showing our products to fans who have not seen or are in. ways to be interesting and it has not happened yet,” Deputy Commissioner of MLS Gary Stevenson in an interview. “We wanted to make sure that the transition is happening, we still have information.”

Here are some options for how deals can work.

Let’s start with Apple TV + getting a partner to be able to stream some games that I still think that Fox, CBS, or the CW would be willing to listen to the package for the right price. There may still be room for ESPN to have their own Pac-12 After Dark package.

Amazon gets the Friday Night Games on Sunday while ESPN broadcasts Saturday 2 while the rest is broadcast on ESPN+ which would solve the line problem but the World Sports Leader can put the money for everyone to enjoy and that’s the story.

Apple TV+ gets the whole package and ESPN gets two games one Friday and one Saturday.

The number to be hit or matched is $31 million per member per year and everyone knows that anything less than $28 million would make other schools consider moving to the Big 12.

There should be some creative work and meeting to make sure everyone is happy. No matter what the package will need to accept that you will be streaming more than the liner.

In recent days many Pac-12 presidents and ADs have come forward and told the media what they expect to see in the best deals and finals in the Pac-12. It’s hard to believe that Kliavkoff doesn’t know much and the dollar amount, so the pressure is on the Commissioner to give and take Amazon or Apple TV + to say yes from his members.