The Pacific 10 Conference, which has taken a backseat to other Bowl Championship Series conferences in TV revenue, took a step Monday that could lead to the creation of a Pac-10 network.
Kevin Weiberg, left, was announced as the league's deputy commissioner, effective April 12. The 53-year-old Weiberg left his job as Big 12 commissioner in 2007 to join the Big Ten Network, where he worked for 18 months.
"I left it feeling pretty good about the potential such a network carries," Weiberg told the Seattle Times. "It's a wonderful way for universities to extend their brand, and it's great exposure for sports that don't receive much of it.
"Having said that, there are challenges. It's not easy to get [a network] distributed. I do think it's something that needs to be considered as the Pac-10 considers its range of possibilities for the future."
Weiberg was brought aboard by Larry Scott, who has been league commish for seven months. Scott had previously expressed interest in upgrading the Pac-10's TV arrangements, a sentiment shared by predecessor Tom Hansen, who told the Orange County Register last year that the creation of a Pac-10 network was a priority.
In 2008, the league received approximately $43 million from its TV deals with Fox and ABC/ESPN. The Big Ten received $66 million from the Big Ten Network alone that year.
Definitely more money in running your own television network than relying on portions of profits from the big guys.
Posted by: Tim Tebow | February 09, 2010 at 12:32 PM