George Kliavkoff’s next Pac-12 chess move could involve the College Football Playoff
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The Big Ten gave USC a large pile of money the Trojans were not in a position to turn down. George Kliavkoff could have offered the Trojans an uneven cut of Pac-12 media rights revenue, but the other Pac-12 schools almost certainly wouldn’t have approved of such an action.
Now that the Pac-12’s survival is a very real concern, presidents and chancellors in the conference might be a lot more attentive to — and accepting of — the reality that some schools will have to get more money than others.
Pac-12 columnist John Canzano, at his Substack, explained what Kliavkoff and the Pac-12 might need to do in order to keep Oregon, Utah, and other football schools happy so that they don’t bolt for another conference:
Q: No matter what happens for the Oregon Ducks, unequal revenue sharing has to be part of the equation for them going forward right? — @Deafdux
A: I think the Pac-12 is exploring an incentivized payout structure for the programs that qualify for the NCAA Tournament and College Football Playoff. Won’t be surprised if the conference stops the practice of splitting those postseason windfalls evenly among members and gives the bulk of the payout to the programs that earn it.
One can only wonder what might have happened if USC was offered such a plan. To be very clear, though, Big Ten money probably was going to win out in the end, no matter what.
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