Pac-12 Network Actually SEVEN Channels
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Larry Scott revealed today that the Pac-12 Network won't be one singular network, but rather seven networks to be run by Pac-12 Media Enterprises. The seven channels will consist of a national network (to showcase the nationally televised games) with the remaining six networks to be regional networks based on the Pac-12's footprint (WA, OR, NorCal, SoCal, AZ, Mountain). Deals are already reached with TWC, Comcast, Cox, and Brighthouse agreeing to air the regional networks on basic/digital cable packages. Other providers are in negotiations with the league about distribution right now.
By having regional networks, the league effectively can broadcast over 850 non-football related events and ensure that a large portion of sports from all 12 schools are broadcast. It remains to be seen, though, whether fans outside the geographic region will be able to see another regional network (e.g. Stanford fans in SoCal), whether it be terrestrial or mobile/internet viewing. Also, it looks as though to watch the football and basketball games that were promised nationally will require the purchase of a separate sports package that will carry the national Pac-12 Network (update: only if you live outside the Pac-12 region -- see below).
Obviously, for Stanford fans at least (who have the least number of fans and alumni in their geographic footprint compared to the 11 other schools), if a deal can't be reached with regards to airing the regional networks elsewhere across the country, be it on the sports tier packages or as an online-subscription alternative, this setup is not-so desirable. While fans on the east coast will be able to see the national Pac-12 network, if you also want to see sports other than Stanford football and men's basketball (i.e. women's basketball), pray that Larry Scott finds a solution within the next year.
UPDATE: Wilner over at the Merc adds a few more nuggets of information:
-- Comcast subscribers will get Pac-12 NorCal as part of the basic Digital Starter package (woo hoo!). This may mean if you're a fan of either Cal or Stanford and live in NorCal and don't care about watching matches between teams outside your region, you may not even need to purchase the sports package for the national network.
-- The regional networks will carry football and men's basketball games. That leads to the question of repetitiveness across all seven networks, though.
-- The conference, because it worked with several different cable partners, will retain full equity of the seven channels (in other words, everything goes back to the conference coffers).
-- Most importantly, all programming will be available on mobile devices that have been authenticated with either Pac-12 Media Enterprises or customers' cable networks.
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It would be great to be able to watch women’s hoops and baseball. I could only watch a handful of the men’s hoops games from the East Coast last season.
by Scott Allen on Jul 28, 2025 9:29 AM PDT reply actions
It remains to be seen, though, whether fans outside the geographic region will be able to see another regional network (e.g. Stanford fans in SoCal),
If there is some sort of regional proprietary coverage, then this whole Pac-12 network thing is essentially just the same situation we have now: hope like hell the local coverage shows out-of-region teams. Or fork over the bucks to pay for expanded channel packages.
I honestly don’t see how this is any different than the current scenario.
"Thanks. Go Bears!" - Ernest Owusu: the next great Cal DE
by SoCal Oski on Jul 28, 2025 12:19 PM PDT reply actions
I see two possible outcomes
The first solution (and I think most likely) is that the conference is going to come back at critics of the regional format with the retort that all events are made available to any subscriber of any of the Pac-12 networks online. It may not show up on your television, but you still have access to it, meaning fans of teams outside of their designated region will be out of luck with regard to getting terrestrial coverage of their preferred regional network. Unless you hook up your computer to your television or the Pac-12 develops an application similar to NHL Gamecenter for Playstation3 and ESPN3 for Xbox, you won’t be able to see those games on your television, although you will still be able to see them live. It also may be detrimental for fans of those schools who may want to see programming other than just archived games (such as the Cal Sports Show, Stanford Now, and any academic programming from the schools specific to that region).
The second solution is that the cable companies offer all seven networks through various packages. I think it’s pretty much well established that the Pac-12 National Network will be available only through premium or sport packages, but it’ll at least be available across the entire U.S. Similar to what DirecTv does, though, with its sports packages and the FSNs/RSNs/CSNs, if you buy the sports package, you’re given access to all the regional sports networks, even if you only are interested in one particular channel not typically offered to you based on your location. It’ll be a bummer for fans and alums living outside of their school’s regional distribution area if they’re in a Pac-12 state, but that would have to be the tradeoff, I’d imagine.
My biggest concern, though, remains ESPN/ABC’s "national" broadcasting format for football and basketball. With ESPN/ABC, they market games as national broadcasts, but in reality they’re only "national" in the regions of the US they deem it relevant. The problem doesn’t so much exist with Fox because they are only in business with the Pac-12 and Big 12, meaning they only have to accommodate two games every weekend in weeks without playoff baseball on Saturday, but ESPN/ABC has to accommodate five of the six BCS conferences (the SEC doesn’t allow ABC broadcasts if CBS is showing a game). While the "reverse mirror" works well most of the time, it doesn’t always mean the entire country is going to see the game (the Northeast was denied watching Stanford v. Oregon last year because of the Notre Dame v. BC game and I believe Texas Tech v. Mizzou, and I think Texans were given the reverse mirror options of a UT or FSU game for the USC game).
by RedOscar on Jul 28, 2025 3:28 PM PDT up reply actions
Your fear about how ESPN/ABC handles games is well founded.
As far as the sports packages, etc, those are already available. I can subscribe to Fox Sports Bay Area if I want to pay the premium right now. But I was hoping that the new conference network would eliminate the extra gouging and extortion, and give us (the fans/alumni/consumers) a better deal.
I guess that “sucker” tattoo on my forehead is still there after all.
"Thanks. Go Bears!" - Ernest Owusu: the next great Cal DE
by SoCal Oski on Jul 28, 2025 4:31 PM PDT up reply actions
Well, it’s caveated. The tattoo’s still there — if you live outside your school’s region.
But to be sure, we don’t have all the information yet, and we probably won’t for a few months. It’s mostly conjecture as far as distribution goes for right now.
by RedOscar on Jul 28, 2025 4:50 PM PDT up reply actions
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