DirecTV appears to be publicly playing hardball. The Pac-12 responded in kind.
Larry Scott issued this statement at the USC vs. Stanford game.
"There's a lot of interest in our programming, and it's a fair offer," Scott said. "They don't feel it's a fair offer. Forty other companies feel differently.
DirecTV doesn't seem ready to come to the Pac-12's terms, and the Pac-12 doesn't seem ready to do the bidding.
Scott may have lost a little bit leverage in the negotiations after USC's loss to Stanford and Cal's loss to Ohio State, as suddenly USC vs. Cal next week has lost a lot of its luster and might not be the marquee matchup it was built up to be. But I doubt the Pac-12 Network is about to bend just because the Trojans and the Bears didn't win their games. There's no reason to concede anything in the short-term just because the deal doesn't look good to DirecTV right now. The Pac-12 must play this out.
Scott and the Pac-12 already have a national satellite distributor in Dish. It should afford everyone in the country the chance to watch the Pac-12 Network. With the cable TV deal, the Pac-12 should already have plenty of regional subscribers to keep the network going strong for now. If DirecTV doesn't come to a deal this week (which probably means they don't come to a deal at all this year), the Pac-12 Network and DirecTV will likely stick to their guns for this year.
Is there still reason for hope? Well...
There you go. If Scott still believes a deal can be made this week, he must believe USC football fans can still make a move in numbers to get the game on TV. We'll see if it's enough.