A Grip on Sports: The first domino has fallen concerning the Pac-12’s media future, with others standing in line and waiting to drop soon
A GRIP ON SPORTS • The biggest complaint among college football fans the past decade or so have not been about the starting quarterback, the play calls nor the head coach’s salary. It’s been game times. And how often they aren’t announced until the last minute. Fear not Washington State fans. There is no problem this fall. They are already set.
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• At least for the home games.
That’s an outgrowth of the 2025 media deal announced by the conference and its two members, WSU and Oregon State, early Tuesday. The most positive outgrowth. The rest of the deal? Future deals, including the reborn conference’s plans for 2026 and beyond? That’s still to be determined.
But next year? When the Cougars are at Gesa Field, we know all we need to know. The networks, The CW (for five games) and CBS Sports (the Apple Cup, though the Sept. 20 game will either kick at 4:30 p.m. or 5). Half of WSU’s six home contests will kick either at 7 p.m. or later.
Oregon State’s home slate of seven games includes two on ESPN, four on The CW and the visit from the Cougars Nov. 1 on CBS Sports. That last one will start either at 4:30 p.m. or 5. Four of OSU’s games will start at 7 or later.
Not an awful deal for the fans of the two schools. And may give us all a hint on the media partners for the reborn Pac-12 in a year.
That deal? It is still awaiting the addition of the eighth (or more) football playing member. Or maybe it’s the other way around. Maybe it’s concurrent. Announce the addition of North Memphis State or Eastern Florida College of Agriculture on the same day the long-term deal is locked in. Whatever, today is mainly about this fall, though the re-integration of ESPN back into the fold is a positive development.
With all games broadcast with so-called linear partners, the streaming presence is not huge. The two CBS Sports games will be on Paramount+, while ESPN has all its games available on ESPN+.
Today’s announcement certainly seems to be a win for Washington State and OSU, though that determination is sort of relative. Last year the schools received an estimated $1 million per game, which was a lot less than what both were receiving the year before. This year is expected to be similar. The final dollar numbers attached to the 2026-and-beyond contracts will be much more important.
For the two schools (and its incoming partners, including Gonzaga) to continue to compete in a money-driven ecosystem that seems to only be getting greener by the day, every dollar has to be wrung from every source. Inside and outside the athletic department.
WSU and Oregon State have checked off one box. Their fans now can use a sharpie – in most cases – to do the same this fall. That’s a win.
But more important decisions still loom.
• One last note about the media partners. The CW Network likes to state, and many stories repeat the contention, it reaches 100% of households via over-the-air broadcasts. That’s not entirely true 100% of the time, at least when it comes to the football games. The CW shares affiliation in some markets, meaning the broadcast station, including those owned by Nexstar, often operate in conjunction with NBC or CBS or ABC.
That’s the case where my mother-in-law lives, San Luis Obispo, Calif. Last season, while visiting, I had to scramble to find the Cougar game as the local CW affiliate showed the NBC programming on Saturday night instead.
• I’m not usually one to get all worked up by the Seahawks’ NFL draft class. Not in the past decade or so, anyway. Some of that is informed by the franchise’s 2012 draft class, in which it selected Bobby Wagner in the second round, Russell Wilson in the third, Jeremy Lane in the sixth, J.R. Sweezy in the seventh and all we heard about was how great first pick Bruce Irvin was going to be.
He was. But Wagner and Wilson were even better. And the other guys contributed mightily despite their under-the-radar status.
That draft ended a three-year run in which the Hawks picked the core of their Super Bowl teams. Since then, the draft classes have been hit and miss, with Seattle pretty average or below on its hit rate.
This year? It may end up that way. But it doesn’t seem like it today. And that’s worth cracking a smile over.
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WSU: Greg Woods posted a story this morning on the media deal (also linked above). It will appear in tomorrow’s S-R. … There are other stories on it as well, from John Canzano on his website, Jon Wilner at the Mercury News site, the Oregonian and another on The Athletic’s site. … Greg has a couple stories in today’s S-R, including one on his conversation with incoming basketball transfer Simon Hildebrandt. … But recruiting never stops, so Greg has a piece on two incoming football transfers. … And one on an outgoing basketball player, Cedric Coward, who said yesterday he will be headed to Duke in the fall – if he decides not to stay in the NBA draft. … Former WSU (and Lake City High) slugger Kyle Manzardo is showing the Guardians he’s got a bright future. And a bright present. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, Wilner’s look at college football’s winners and losers in the annual NFL draft exercise, which we linked yesterday in the Mercury News, is available on the S-R website today. … Wilner also takes a quick look in the Mercury News at next year’s NFL draft and who the top West Coast prospects are. … College administrators are confident the roster limits questions will be resolved and the House settlement will ultimately be approved. … Canzano also had his mailbag yesterday. … Washington’s new linebacker coach has tapped into his longtime connections. … The NFL draft illustrated the gap between Oregon and Oregon State. … Maybe now Colorado can move forward. … Arizona State’s roster is deep and getting deeper. … Arizona has picked up Montana’s former long snapper from the portal. … Boise State had great portal news. One of its defensive linemen has decided to stay. … Utah State has produced enough NFL draftees to wonder who the next will be. … Colorado State added an FCS pass rusher. … Fresno State needed quarterback help. The Bulldogs looked north and added a transfer from Sacramento State. … In basketball news, former Oregon star Stan Love, who played for the Lakers when I was a young fan, has died. He was 76. Love not only played in the NBA, he also is Kevin Love’s father and the younger brother of Beach Boys’ lead singer Mike Love. … Andrej Stojakovic is leaving the West Coast. The former Stanford and California player is headed to Illinois. He seemed like a perfect fit for Gonzaga. … USC’s incoming freshman Alijah Arenas continues to recover from his truck crash. … Utah has added another guard from the portal. … The Oregon women have added an inside player from Fresno State.
Gonzaga: Ya, we say it all the time. Recruiting never stops. The Zags will have a high school senior center in for a campus visit this week. Jim Meehan tells us Parker Jefferson, a 6-foot-10, 235-pound center from Southern California, will be in town tomorrow through Friday. The weather should cooperate. … Don’t forget Theo Lawson has his WCC transfer tracker available each day.
EWU and Idaho: Around the Big Sky, Sacramento State continues to make news. Today’s big deal? New basketball coach Mike Bibby and the school’s administration have added Shaquille O’Neal as a volunteer general manager of the men’s program. … Montana State already added a transfer from Washington. Yesterday, one from Wisconsin announced he’s headed to Bozeman. … Montana football has added a transfer linebacker from conference foe Portland State.
Preps: In a matchup of undefeated teams, Mt. Spokane’s Addison Jay tossed a no-hitter and the Wildcats topped Freeman 1-0 in a nonleague contest. That leads off Dave Nichols’ roundup.
Mariners: For the second consecutive week, a Seattle player has won the American League’s award for the best performance. Jorge Polanco followed up Dylan Moore’s A.L. player of the week honor with one of his own. … The M’s hot play is getting noticed.
Seahawks: Seattle picked up the fifth-year option for left tackle Charles Cross. The Hawks hope to iron out a long-term deal.
Storm: There is a new name for a veteran player on the Seattle roster. Skyler Diggins has dropped the hypen and the Smith.
Horse racing: Bob Baffert is back at Churchill Downs. His three-year doping suspension is over. He’s not looking back.
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• The past couple weeks have been pretty busy. It seemed, however, as today would be a bit lighter around here. That turned out to not be the case. At least it rained this morning, putting my plans to pull weeds and plant some flowers on hold for a while. Until the sun shows its face this afternoon. Until later …