It's not a matter of making DirecTV mad, it's a matter of not having any leverage because they are a stand alone entity. When the Big Ten Network was negotiating carriage agreements, it was done under the Fox umbrella--if the carrier wanted Fox stations, they had to take BTN. When the SEC Network was negotiating carriage agreements, if was done under the Disney umbrella--if the carrier wanted the ESPN channels, they had to take SECN.McInnis80 said:
I don't know what happened to make Direct TV mad, but this is not good. I suspect Larry Scott may have burned some bridges. I don't if one of the league's AD's have the clout to have a sit down with Direct TV and I would be surprised if any member of the "Pac 12 CEO group" has the desire or connections to get anywhere with Direct TV. The league presidents should ask the USC President to see if he has entertainment industry connections to get a deal. If that means getting rid of Larry Scott so be it.
The only way out of this mess for the Pac-12 would be to sell a stake in their network (probably without recovering all their start up costs) to someone with some leverage.
