Larry Scott announced his plan for the Pac-12 Network and he hit yet another home run on this. Instead of hitching the leagues wagon to one cable provider, Scott was able to partner with the largest cable companies in the country. This will ensure that the fans in the league footprint should have very little issue finding the Pac-12 Network.
Here are the bullet point details from the press release, via Ralphie Report:
- The first big announcement to come out today is the creation of the Pac-12 Networks in partnership with Comcast, Cox, Time Warner and Brighthouse cable- The second major announcement of the day was that the Pac-12 is creating six regional networks and one national network. The regional networks are Washington, Oregon, Northern California, Southern California, Arizona and Mountain
- At least 850 sporting events yearly on the Pac-12 Networks
- Launches in August of 2012
- Will be available to a wide range of viewers through arrangements with the cable partners
- Every single football and basketball game will be available in every state on the Pac-12 Networks (if not on one of the conference's other television partners)
- Hundreds of Olympic sports will be available
- Pac-12 Networks will be available on ANY DEVICE, TV anywhere- The conference owns and controls the Pac-12 Networks
The two big takeaways I get from this is the ability to watch on any device which would include computers, tablets and smart phones. Not sure if live coverage is available on any device and if that was the case then it is another big win for the league. The other item to be excited about is the six regional networks and national network. That will provide coverage to more events to the local markets.
The only downside is that if you live outside of a Pac-12 state the Pac-12 regional and national networks will be on a pay-teir and there is currently no deal in place for satatllite.
The terms of the details were not disclosed, but the Pac-12 has already won with a $3 Billion television deal prior to the Pac-12 Network so anything else is a bonus.