Pac-10 changing name to Pac-12
While it might not be the Pac-16 he was hoping for, Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott has announced that the storied conference will be changing their name to the Pac-12 after Colorado and Utah join their ranks in 2011.
Making the announcement at a Manhattan hotel in New York – another lynchpin to the Scott strategy that is trying to bolster the conference's appeal and image east of Arizona – Scott says the name change comes complete with a new logo and new schedule to accommodate the incoming teams.
“We will be mathematically correct going forward,” joked Scott.
The facelift comes on the heels of Scott’s failed bid to create the leagues first super conference, a move that would have also left the Pac-10 commissioner holding the bag for single-handedly dismantling another storied conference, the Big 12.
In June, the hotstove was abuzz with rumours that Scott was “aggressively” pursuing Texas – one of the NCAA’s most lucrative programs – along with Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech to leave the Big 12 and join his Pac-10. The unprecedented move fell through when Texas announced that it would be staying put and the other schools quickly followed suit.
"We developed this plan with our eyes wide open,” said Scott of the proposed conference change. “We knew that this would be seen as a very bold stroke and there would be all kinds of reasons why it might not be possible at the end.”
Possible may not have even been what Scott was looking for.
Since taking the commissioner’s seat last year, Scott has been under constant pressure from the universities to reshape the Pac-10’s image.
"The common refrain I kept hearing was everyone recognized the excellence of the Pac-10 here on the West Coast but we don't feel we get the respect we deserve nationally,” said Scott. "It seemed to be a bit of an excuse. The Pac-10 in my estimation was very laid back and passive in terms of how it went about telling its story and promoting itself."
Scott’s appointment to the commissioner’s chair last year was somewhat of an anomaly; having never worked in college sports, Scott was hired to retool the Pac-10, a conference whose players and coaches felt was exploding with talent but being left behind by the NCAA’s more established conferences like the Big Ten. Last year’s figures show that the Big Ten paid all their members almost double the highest Pac-10 number as a result of the more lucrative television deals and publicity available to them.
But Scott was no stranger to the ‘big fish, little pond’ mentality. He had made his mark as the CEO with the Women’s Tennis Assocation, helping to secure an $88m deal with Sony Ericsson and bringing equal prize money to the biggest stops on the women’s tour as that seen in the men’s.
One of his biggest challenges with the Pac-10 will be negotiating the conferences new television deal. Scott says he is looking for something that will keep the Pac-10 on pace with rival conferences in terms of monetary figures and doesn’t see something like the $1.86m, six-year deal the ACC reportedly will sign with ESPN out of the question.
With just weeks leading up to the start of the NCAA’s football preseason, Scott is already in full media swing, bringing his coaches and a few star athletes with him on his New York trip to announce the new changes in the budding conference.
“The Pac-10 people got to know over the last (month) is the new Pac-10,” said Scott. “We will continue to see the innovative and bold steps that we will take to make the Pac-10 and out schools the best they can be.”
"If you want to say we've swung for the fences, we're thrilled," Scott said. "(But) this is the second inning at best. You'll start seeing some of our other plans and innovations start to be unveiled.”
Tags: