Apple TV is the frontrunner to land streaming deal for Pac-12 conference, similar structure to MLS Season Pass

Although a deal is not yet approved, Apple looks set to land the streaming rights for the Pac-12 sports conference. As reported by ESPN’s Pet Thamel, the Pac-12 hosted a meeting today with its conference schools, proposing Apple as their new TV rights partner.

The arrangement would materialize in a similar vein to MLS Season Pass, which sees all MLS games exclusively stream through the Apple TV app. Like MLS Season Pass, access to the Pac-12 channel would likely be a standalone subscription (separate to Apple TV+).

While nothing has yet been agreed, there are reportedly no alternatives to the Apple deal on the table. Some Pac-12 schools are hesitant to go forward with a streaming TV future, worried that their viewership and exposure would drop significantly compared to the traditional TV and cable broadcast model.

Reportedly, only Apple would offer financial terms at levels the conference would deem acceptable. Terms of the arrangement remain under lock and key, but are rumored to be in the region of $20-25 million per school, with bonus incentives if certain subscription levels were hit.

This is slightly lower than what schools in the Big 12 conference attained through their most recent media rights deal, which landed at around $31 million per school. (Behind the scenes, some Pac-12 members have threatened to leave and join the Big 12, if the conference could not secure a similar deal.)

The structure of the Pac-12 deal sounds similar to the terms for MLS Season Pass, which sees Apple pay a minimum of ~$250 million annually for the rights, with the league getting additional bonus payments if certain subscriber milestones are reached. While Apple has exclusive streaming rights to MLS matches, some games are shown on broadcast channels.

You can expect a similar arrangement for the Pac-12, as in it would be a “primarily” streaming only affair, but some games are also shown on cable networks.

We’ll have to wait a few more weeks to see how this all shakes out, and whether the Apple – Pac-12 partnership is made official.