The new Pac-12 television deal does not go into effect until the 2012-2013 years, but the deal makes them the most lucrative conference. The deal will make the Pac-12 schools actually visible outside of their local markets, and the fans of those teams are extremely happy.
Utah is the school that will gain the most since in the Mountain West they were making around $2 million per year and this new deal will give the Utes approximately 10 times the revenue with the move to the Pac-12.
We will take a look at what the SB Nation Pac-12 sites are saying about the new deal, and first up is Washington State blog Coug Center who talks about how the new television deal is a huge upgrade for fans:
First-tier rights are obviously going to go to ABC, Fox and ESPN, three channels which are virtually indistinguishable in terms of exposure to sports fans. (If you think a game being on ESPN is a step down from being on ABC or Fox, look at Monday Night Football. It's not.) But those second-tier rights that previously went to FSN? I just don't see that being the case anymore.
Fox wasn't going to pony up this kind of money unless it planned on putting a substantial amount of content on FX. That's a great thing for viewers, because FX has roughly the same distribution as ESPN nationally. ... I'm betting that the bulk of the second-tier games end up either on FX or on ESPN2. These are channels that are easy for viewers to find that are in virtually every home with a basic digital cable or satellite package across the entire country.
In other words, most of the Pac-12's television broadcasts will be available nationwide -- something that's not currently the case. Huge, huge victory.
Next up is soon-to-be Pac-12 member Colorado who is represented by Ralphie Report and they like the amount of football and basketball game that will be on television:
What should get fans really excited is what Wilner tweeted last night: "Based on what I've heard the past two weeks, no reason to think that (Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott) Scott won't make good on his promise to get every football and basketball game on TV." With two prominent networks involved like ESPN and Fox with multiple channels, we are going to be watching a ton of Pac-12 sports in the future.
Oregon State's Building the Dam likes that the partners are ESPN and Fox, and not Comcast:
On the positive side, Comcast is not involved. This is a significant point, given that much of Comcast's current offerings is not available to a significant amount of the Pac-12's footprint, particularly in the northwest. While the major markets are covered, at least in their core areas, much of the region is not.
UCLA fans over at Bruins Nation are hoping this financial wind fall will allow the student section seats to not be sold off to the highest bidder:
Given the additional cash flow coming UCLA's way the financial viability excuse used in attempts to steal students' sideline seating looks sillier. There will also be no excuses for not being able to make adequate improvements to our facilities and providing resources necessary to field elite major revenue programs.
Addicted to Quack feels this deal will only strengthen Oregon's lead in the arms race within the Pac-12 North:
For how this affects Oregon, this will provide a great boost the bottom line of the athletic department, and take a lot of pressure that's been building financially over the last few years. This money will give the Ducks a huge advantage over the rest of the conference, and especially the Pac-12 North.
While other schools struggle to simply keep their sports alive, the relatively financially healthy Ducks can use this money to innovate and hopefully make Oregon one of the premier athletic departments in the country.
This is a great deal for each and every school with the increased revenue that will flow their way as well as exposure that is unprecedented in the the history of the Pac-10 league.