"ESPN, Fox and CBS all put in last-minute bids for packages of Pac-12 games. But the bids all came in way lower than the conference wanted. How low? Commissioner George Kliavkoff only presented the conference's presidents with Apple TV's bid last week.
Fox's bid was for a package of just 13 football games, for which it said it would pay around $35-$40 million per year. Fox's bid, essentially, was for what it considered part of the conference's "B" package.
ESPN had offered a significant package to the conference more than a year ago -- one that the conference's university presidents rejected. ESPN ended up cutting a deal with the Big 12, and while it remained involved with the Pac-12, it only put in a small bid for Pac-12 rights within the past few weeks.
CBS also engaged with the Pac-12 over the past couple of weeks, but it only put forward a bid for a handful of basketball games -- around five in total. Sources had expected ESPN and Amazon to share the Pac-12's "A" package. But as it turned out, Amazon never submitted a bid. Neither did NBC.
The delay from last year, when ESPN, Fox and CBS were willing to do a deal, to last week, when all three put forth small bids, was devastating to the Pac-12. A changing media landscape -- with shrinking subscriber numbers and employee layoffs -- caused the networks to be much more disciplined in where to spend their money than they have in the past.
Similarly, Wall Street hit the streamers hard as shares fell once bankers started prioritizing profits over subscriber growth and caused deep-pocketed companies like Amazon and Apple to also become more disciplined in how much they spend on sports rights...."
https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/SB-Blogs/Newsletter-Media/2023/08/07.aspx