Pac-12 Conference commissioner Larry Scott spent almost 45 minutes on the phone with reporters Monday, discussing a whole host of Pac-12-related topics. We'll first get to the one people have been asking about for about a year now:
It doesn't sound like the Pac-12 Network is coming to DirecTV any time soon.
"At this point in time I don't have any reason to be optimistic about it," Scott said. "We continue to be very focused on it, keep reaching out to them, keep seeing if there's anything we can do."
While that makes it seem like there's an ongoing dialogue, Scott more or less said the Pac-12 isn’t willing to give DirecTV a better offer than the other major cable distributors are getting, and it sounds as if both sides still have their heels dug in.
"We've got agreements with three of the top four distributors in the country," Scott said. "So we know we've got a fair offer. They've said they don't want to do a deal on the same terms that everyone else has.
"At this point in time we're as frustrated as our fans are, and we hope DirecTV will listen to their customers, listen to our fans and stop depriving their fans of the coverage."
So that's the bad news for you DirecTV holdouts still hoping patience will pay off and someone will cave. For the Pac-12 Network junkies out there already one year into enjoying the channel, there is good news.
Scott said the network will add 200 live events in 2013-2014, increasing to 750 live events total. That probably won't include many, if any, football or men's basketball games, but there will be an "unprecedented number of Olympic sporting events" live on air.
The money to pay for production of those additional events could come from the network's year one profits, though Scott did not say that. Scott confirmed the network is projected to be profitable in year one but declined to say if any of those profits would be distributed among conference schools. Scott said the network also projects to be profitable in year two.
"It's a very, very solid model the network is built on," Scott said.
Also notable on the conference call was discussion of the Pac-12's comprehensive student-athlete health initiative. The plan includes an extensive research program to which the conference has already committed $3.5 million, an annual student-athlete health conference, a head trauma task force and reduction of football contact.
Those last two things are of particular interest. The Pac-12 is following the NFL's lead in taking major steps to reduce the occurrence and risk of concussions in football. Reducing contact in football practices is one of those steps, though limiting contact also reduces the risk of general injury.
Scott said Pac-12 football coaches told him in meetings last May they were already allowing less contact in practices than the NCAA allows. Accordingly, Scott wants to create a uniform policy, which he said will be detailed at Pac-12 football media day in Los Angeles on July 26.
"They have self-imposed contact limits already less than what than the NCAA does," Scott said. "So we are codifying as a conference what's been the current practice."
Many schools already limit contact in practice during the season, so formal restrictions could have a greater impact on spring practice and preseason training camps. Scott said the Pac-12 will look extensively at what the NFL is doing with contact limits as an example.
