Pac-12 announces a 'mutual' parting with longtime commissioner Larry Scott
The Pac-12 will part ways with embattled commissioner Larry Scott on June 30, a year before his contract was set to expire, the conference announced Wednesday night.
Scott, who has been in the role for more than a decade, will still be paid through June of 2022, according to the Sports Business Journal, while a search to find his replacement will begin immediately.
The Pac-12's television deals with ESPN and Fox expire in 2023-24, so it will be up to the new commissioner to chart the path forward in that regard.
“We appreciate Larry’s pioneering efforts in growing the conference by adding new competitive university programs and accelerating the Pac-12 to television network parity with the other conferences,” Oregon president Michael Schill said in a statement. “At one point, our television agreement was the most lucrative in the nation and the debut of the Pac-12 Network helped deliver our championship brand to US and global markets on traditional and digital platforms. That said, the intercollegiate athletics marketplace doesn’t remain static and now is a good time to bring in a new leader who will help us develop our go-forward strategy.”
Scott oversaw the expansion of the conference, bringing in Colorado and Utah, the creation of a Pac-12 football championship game, established equal revenue sharing through the league, the launch of the Pac-12 Networks and increased Pac-12 annual revenue from $100 million to almost $500 million, per the official news release.
The full execution of the Pac-12 Networks, including the failure to reach distribution agreements with DirecTV and some key cable providers, was a major point of criticism for Scott, but there were many others -- including wasteful spending, his status as the highest-paid conference commissioner at $5.4 million before pandemic reductions, the decision to pay out bonuses to Pac-12 executives while also laying off and furloughing a significant number of conference staff, along with the overriding criticism that the Pac-12 was simply falling behind the other Power 5 conferences.
“I was in pro sports for 20 years, I’ve now been in college athletics for more than 10 years, and now is a great time in my life to pursue other exciting opportunities," Scott said in a statement. "This moment, when college athletics are moving in a new direction and with the Conference soon commencing the next round of media negotiations, it seems the right time to make a change. It is important that the conference be able to put in place the person who will negotiate and carry out that next agreement. Based on the recent robust valuation and marketplace interest we’ve received from traditional and nontraditional media organizations, I am confident the conference is well-positioned for continued success. I appreciate the support of the Pac-12 member institutions and a very talented staff, with whom it has been my privilege to work.”
