The word "collusion" was tossed around as it related to the college football's powers holding other programs at bay. When BYU was left out of the Bowl Alliance (the precursor to the BCS) despite becoming the first Division I-A (now FBS) team to win 14 games, Senate hearings were convened. Karl Benson, former commissioner the old WAC, presided over 16 members from 1996-98 before the league collapsed on itself because - surprise - the money didn't stretch far enough. The only conference commissioner to run a 16-team league in the modern era has a warning for the SEC and Big Ten: Beware of the legal ramifications of expanding beyond 16 teams. The size of the deal could compel further movement, force Notre Dame into the Big Ten and/or further consolidate power within the Big Ten (and SEC).Ĭonference realignment notebook Further expansion could create legal problems Shapiro is among those waiting for a Big Ten announcement that will almost assuredly reshape conference alignment and possibly college athletics. In 2017, he signed a short six-year, $2.64 billion deal with Fox and ESPN that has landed the Big Ten in the advantageous place it now finds itself: on the brink of signing a $1 billion-plus annual media rights deal. Those moves provided more content for the network as well as linear cable partners Fox and ESPN.ĭelany then made another brilliant move that got us to this moment. The Big Ten Network has been wildly successful, to the point that subsequent conference expansions to Nebraska, Maryland and Rutgers contributed to that success. "Consider them rolled," Delany responded.ĭelany further monetized his conference's rights by taking some of them in-house and starting his own channel. "You are rolling the dice," Shapiro infamously told Delany. Delany refused amid what he perceived to be a lowball offer. Back in 2004, Shapiro, then an ESPN executive, offered prior Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany a take-it-or-leave it deal to renew with the Worldwide Leader. At the same time, college athletics is anticipating the Big Ten's new media rights contract, expected to be announced any day. You already know the Big 12 is in the middle of rearranging itself for the second straight summer as it gazes westward to possibly grab some Pac-12 members. The president of Endeavor - a powerful global sports, entertainment and content company - is currently advising the Big 12 on its next media rights deal after its current agreement expires ahead of the 2025 season. No matter how this round of reorganization ends, Mark Shapiro will have a significant stake. It centers around a 51-year-old media executive who has been pulling the strings behind the scenes for a while. There isn’t an athletic director, president/chancellor in the last few years, or sitting on duty, that isn’t culpable for what happened because they allowed Larry Scott to be Larry Scott.There's a big reason why we've reached another conference realignment crossroads. And you know, it’s really fun to blame Larry Scott for everything, and rightfully so. beyond belief what’s happened to college sports.”įurness, who has covered the Pac-12 for decades, said many want to blame the previous commissioner, Larry Scott, for the ruination of the league through bad deals, mismanagement and lack of foresight, but he said the blame should go to every league AD and president, including former Utah athletic director Chris Hill, who continually enabled Scott’s ineptitude.įurness, who is no BYU fan, said the Pac-12 blew it when it did not expand and include the Cougars in Provo. “I’m so filled with anger and emotion regarding this. He has ties to the WSU Cougars and hates what has happened to rivalries and what may happen to the Pac-12 in the coming months. This was voiced by KJR and Fox 13 Seattle sports anchor and reporter Ian Furness, a former radio host in the Salt Lake City market who appeared on 1280 the Zone. Is Big 12 a step down or step up from the Pac-12?.Is there more to Pac-12, ACC talk? Expansion chatter continues.
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