We all know Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott loves a challenge.
After taking over for Tom Hansen in the summer of 2009, Scott’s vision has led to conference expansion, a Pac-12 Championship Football Game, and now the conference’s owned and operated television network which will allow greater exposure for the schools and all sports across the board.
“A lot of work has gone into this since we started this 12 months ago when we announced we were going to create our own network,” Commissioner Scott told Brad Cesmat Tuesday on ‘Big Guy on Sports.’ “This is such an ambitious undertaking. I think our fans are going to be very, very impressed with what they see. The content is really unprecedented.”
The network will not only allow fans to follow their favorite Pac-12 teams closer (35 football games, 140 basketball games, 700 Olympic events scheduled to be broadcast in the first year), it will serve as a much-needed financial windfall for the institutions. Reports say each university in the conference could gain up to $10 million per year in the coming years after startup costs diminish.
Scott said he wasn’t sure when he took the job three years ago if a conference network made sense, but knew improving visibility and revenue were vital for the growth of the Pac-12. He also stressed by branching away from traditional networks like ESPN and FOX, the conference is able to showcase their Olympic sports which they dominate nationally on a yearly basis.
One of the few sticking points for Scott and the conference is the Pac-12 Network isn’t presently available to DirectTV and Dish Network subscribers, but is to people with Cox Communications.
“Our team is working extremely hard to make it available to all distributors,” Scott explained to Cesmat. “Our goal is to reach every Pac-12 fan across the country. Fans that have [DirectTV and Dish Network] should contact their providers and let them know that it’s something they want.”
The network’s first ever show, “Pac-12 Live” will air Wednesday at 6:00PM Arizona time.
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Eric Sorenson
A Valley native, Eric has had a passion for the Arizona sports scene since an early age. He has covered some of the biggest events including Super Bowls, national championships and the NBA and MLB playoffs in his near 20 years in local media.