UTAH UTES
No Future For Big 12, Pac-12 Merger Per Pete Thamel
SALT LAKE CITY- Conference realignment talk took another turn late Monday when ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported any talks of a merger between the Big 12 and Pac-12 have come to an end. According to Thamel, the two parties had at least three lengthy zoom calls over the past two weeks to discuss options, but those conversations are no longer happening due to an inability to find a strong revenue driver.
Sources: Big 12, Pac-12 won't partner as talks among the two conferences officially end. The two sides had at least three lengthy Zoom calls to explore options within the last two weeks. No strong revenue driver emerged. More details here: https://t.co/FtA67ukBXV
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) July 19, 2022
Why Big 12, Pac-12 Merger Talks Went Nowhere
According to Thamel and a source tied to the Big 12 there were “a multitude of reasons” why the two conferences couldn’t come to terms on a partnership of some kind. The biggest reason alleged in the report was that the Big 12 and Pac-12 couldn’t find a solution that would generate revenue together. You can read the full details of the report from Thamel here.
Where Does the Big 12, Pac-12 Go From Here?
Speculation as to what will happen next in conference realignment since USC and UCLA announced they were moving to the Big Ten in 2024 a few weeks back is still cloudy and Monday’s news didn’t do much to clear up the line of vision other than removing one potential merger. The possibility of either the Big 12 or Pac-12 conference eventually trying to poach the other still seems firmly at play despite talks of a partnership being tabled.
Last week Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark said the conference was open to possibilities involving the Pac-12 at their Media Days while also stating “nothing was imminent”.
On the Pac-12 side it was heavily reported the remaining ten schools were committed to sticking together and seeking out some kind of alignment with the ACC before talks of merging with the Big 12 began to heat up.
Information on what an agreement with the ACC and Pac-12 could look like still is not clear. There have been rumblings that Pac-12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff has been killing meetings since opening up the conference’s media rights for negotiation with ESPN and FOX, but no further details have been made available. The Pac-12 will be holding their media day on July 29th and it seems conceivable some news of how any negotiations have been going could come about then.
