Pac-12 breaks ground for new TV studios

SAN FRANCISCO – Ronnie Lott and J.T. Snow helped put up a wall, Marshawn Lynch cleared space with a sledgehammer and the Pac-12 got started building the studios for its new television network.

The conference held the groundbreaking for the Pac-12 networks in downtown San Francisco on Monday, about six months before it will hit the air with a national cable television network, six regional networks and a digital network.

“It’s truly a seminal moment for the conference,” Commissioner Larry Scott said at a ceremony featuring former great athletes from the conference, as well as San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee. “It’s an exciting time for college sports in general and there’s no more exciting place to be than the Pac-12. We’ve got a great dynamic and bold vision for the future of college sports and the future of our conference.”

This network is a major part of that. After reaching a 12-year contract worth about $3 billion last May with Fox and ESPN, Scott announced plans to launch a new conference-owned network to supplement coverage and create more exposure for Pac-12 athletes.

It will be a national network that will air 34 football games next season, at least 125 men’s college basketball games, at least 40 women’s basketball games and more than 650 Olympic sports events.

The six regional networks will focus more on local schools, providing increased exposure to a conference that has often lacked it despite on-field success.