Even the schools willing to accept the proposed Pac-12 television deal with Apple were not exactly big fans of the arrangement.
Arizona president Robert Robbins had a pretty blunt assessment of the proposed deal, which would have seen the Pac-12 move to a fully streaming model without any guarantee of a simulcast on linear TV. Robbins compared that to “selling candy bars for Little League.”
Arizona President Bobby Robbins on selling Apple package: "We were trying to think, well, it's going to be like selling candy bars for Little League."
— Pete Nakos (@PeteNakos_) August 7, 2023
For the proposed Pac-12 deal to be a success, it would have needed to hit certain subscriber targets. This suggests a relative lack of confidence in being able to hit those targets. That is not an unjustified fear, since it is fair to wonder how many people would be willing to pay to see a conference that already seemed to be on the decline.
Arizona was one of several schools to take the exit ramp and move to the Big 12 following the decisions Oregon and Washington made to leave. It is simply a safer financial bet at this point.
