Big 12, Pac-12 won't partner as talks officially end

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Sources say talks about a partnership between the Big 12 and the Pac-12 have ended.

Sources said that officials from the Big 12 told officials from the Pac-12 that they weren't interested in exploring the partnership.

The deal didn't work for the Big 12 because it wouldn't have driven much revenue for the league, according to a Big 12 source. The source said that it did not work.

There have been at least three calls between top league officials in the Big 12 and the Pac-12, as well as calls between other groups of the league to discuss different options. The amount of conversations had not been reported.

A source briefed on the conversations said that the Big 12 was interested in merging. A source from the Big 12 said that the only scenario that could have driven value was a full merger of the leagues.

The Big 12 was said to be interested in that option. The Big 12 needed more time to explore that option further, which it did over the weekend, and decided not to explore any other options.

The source said that the Pac-12 was skeptical of the full merger because the league's media rights were not always renewed. A Big 12 source said the Pac-12 could work around that.

"Because the Big 12 media rights can't be negotiated until 2024, the Pac-12 has no desire to join the Big 12," said a source. The conference is in the middle of media rights negotiations and has decided to stay together.

The departure of USC and UCLA has left the league without two of its top brands in the LA media market. The league has just two years left on its lackluster television deal, and Commissioner George Kliavkoff has been looking for new ways to make money.

The financial reality of that potential partnership also projects to underwhelm according to sources.

The notion that the Pac-12 is vulnerable to the Power Five leagues is perpetuated by the expiring contract of the conference. With the Big Ten nabbing two of the league's top properties and cutting the potential value of the upcoming television contract significantly, the reality of thePac-12 needing to fight off potential poachers could emerge

After the league's TV deal ends, neither Oregon nor Washington are bound by a grant of rights. The Big 12 has been keeping an eye on the possibility of adding former Big 12 members Arizona, Arizona State, Utah and Colorado.

The Big 12 is open for business and the conference plans to be aggressive about potential additions, according to the new commissioner.

Yormark said they would leave no stone unturned to drive value for the conference. The Big 12 needs to be in the best position to negotiate multimedia rights. Everything we do has to make a difference for those talks.

The board of directors of the Pac-12 authorized the league to immediately begin negotiations for its next media rights agreements. The league is looking at different ways to drive revenue through partnerships.