Apple likely to ink deal for Pac-12 college football streaming rights

Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff on Tuesday presented the conference’s presidents and chancellors with a primarily subscription-based Apple streaming deal for its potential television contract that expires after this school year, ESPN reports citing “multiple sources.”

Pete Thamel and Heather Dinich for ESPN:

While several options were presented, the Apple streaming deal emerged as the likely leader at this point, bringing some clarity to a lengthy process that frustrated many within the league and ultimately played a role in Colorado’s decision last week to join the Big 12. Monetary and exposure questions still loom, though, and outside pressure from the Big 12 remains.

According to sources, the first year of what’s expected to be a relatively short-term contract with Apple would start in 2024-25 and begin relatively low to the league’s hopes. But the deal, sources said, would incrementally improve and potentially be competitive with its peers in the Big 12 and ACC down the road, provided certain subscription numbers are met.

When the Big 12’s new TV deal begins in 2025, those schools will see an increase to an average of $31.7 million. That’s long been the barometer at which the Pac-12 deal was expected to be measured.

After the meeting Tuesday morning, there remained ambiguity about the potential value of the Pac-12 deal because of the unknown variance of subscriptions. Sources familiar with the negotiations told ESPN the Pac-12 is in a better position now than it was a month and a half ago to sell digital subscriptions thanks to changes in the media landscape.

MacDailyNews Take: A deal with the Pac-12 that’s similar to MLS Season Pass subscription package would make the most sense for Apple.

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