PAC-12 Selects Octagon...

The Pac-12 has hired Octagon to “assist in the sale of its media rights,” according to sources cited by sportswriter John Canzano. Sources said that the conference “interviewed at least three” firms before landing on Octagon. Oregon State and Washington State are "betting on Octagon," and it is a "wise thing for a conference that doesn’t want to repeat the sins of its last media rights debacle.” But Octagon "can’t make" any network or streamer "bring money they don’t have (or want to spend) to the table." Its job is to "get creative and wring the value out of the product." There is a “glaring basketball opportunity here,” with six of the eight members of the rebuilt conference having reached the men’s NCAA Tournament last season. Octagon’s "fingerprints are on a few basketball-specific media rights negotiations in other places,” such as the Atlantic 10 and Costal Athletic Association's recent deals. Canzano wonders if Octagon would “split the Pac-12’s basketball media rights from football and try to sell the two assets independently" or "bundle them." Traditionally, those rights have been “bundled for the most value.” But insiders are “curious and watching to see what the Pac-12 will do given that it has an attractive stable of basketball schools.” The Pac-12 still needs to add at least one “all-sports” member, so Octagon will “likely ask prospective media partners to model media deals that include escalators for a variety of additions" (JOHNCANZANO.com, 10/22).