* The Pac-12 Hotline newsletter is published each Monday-Wednesday-Friday during the college sports season (and twice-a-week in the summer). This edition, from May 28, has been made available in archived form.

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The Path to the Jackpot

When Colorado chancellor Phil DiStefano talks, the Hotline listens. We listen and we parse and we ponder what it all means.

DiStefano is the boss of the bosses, the head of the Pac-12’s CEO board — the group of presidents and chancellors that run the conference.

DiStefano’s tenure began last summer and has been marked by noticeable upturns in transparency (with conference business) and collaboration (between the conference office and the campuses). He has been visible and accountable and remarkably forthcoming, especially compared to his predecessors.

The latest example came last week, in the form of an interview with the Denver Post’s Sean Keeler.

The full Q&A is here and well worth your time.

Three highlights:

1. DiStefano praised commissioner Larry Scott’s willingness to adjust his management style and said there is no rush to make a determination on Scott’s contract extension. (The existing deal expires in 2022.)

2. The presidents and chancellors are focused on the search for a strategic partner and positioning the Pac-12 to cash in with the next media rights cycle (beginning in 2024-25).

3. The campuses share the burden with the conference when it comes to finding new sources of revenue.

“Obviously, if we’re winning,” DiStefano said, “we’re going to get more people in the stadium — that’s going to produce more revenue.”

As the Hotline has noted in the past, No. 3 could have a significant impact on No. 2:

The Pac-12 desperately needs a strong football product when the conference enters negotiations with potential media partners in the winter or early spring of 2023.

It needs teams in the playoff and teams in the top 10 and teams drawing eyeballs and making headlines across the country in order to maximize the value of its most lucrative brand.

(Football content accounts for roughly 80 cents of every TV dollar in rights negotiations, with men’s basketball worth 20 cents. And it could be closer to a 90-10 split in the Pac-12.)

Let’s recall the situation leading up to the $3 billion deal with ESPN and Fox, which was signed in the spring of 2011:

• USC was just a few years removed from its dynasty and still a major attraction nationwide.

• Oregon was revolutionizing college football under Chip Kelly and fresh off a season in which the Ducks played for the national championship.

• Stanford was the darling of the sport after its spectacular rise to the Orange Bowl with Jim Harbaugh and Andrew Luck.

• The Ducks and Cardinal would finish the 2010 season ranked in the top five, with Kelly and Luck and Oregon tailback LaMichael James and USC quarterback Matt Barkley all coming back for more the following season.

The conference was loaded with big names and good stories and elite teams at just the right time, and the networks were willing to pay for the product.

(It was good timing in another regard: Comcast, which hadn’t been a major player for college sports rights, jumped in with a bid for the Pac-12 and drove up the price for ESPN and Fox.)

The pairing of success on the field and at the negotiating table in 2010-11 would seem to indicate the next few years are vital for the long term:

The conference needs a thriving football brand — playoff teams and top-10 rankings and Heisman finalists — leading up to the early-2023 negotiating window.

Success at that level requires proper execution by the campuses and the conference office. It also requires time, but there isn’t as much as you might think: The Pac-12 has four seasons to position itself for the jackpot. — Jon Wilner.

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Hot off the Hotline

• The Pac-12 stock report returned late last week and touched on topics on the field and off, including recruiting news from Boulder and Seattle and an update on the state of the Stanford-Notre Dame football series.

• ICYMI: The Thursday newsletter highlighted a significant development in the California State Senate, where a bill that threatens the NCAA amateurism is moving forward with loads of momentum. Previous editions of the newsletter are available in archived form.

Why we need your support: Like so many other providers of local journalism across the country, the Hotline’s parent website, mercurynews.com, recently moved to a subscription model. A few Hotline stories will remain free each month (as will this newsletter), but for access to all content, you’ll need to subscribe at a rate of just 12 cents per day for 12 months. And thanks for your loyalty.

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Legal Affairs

• If you’re interested in more details on the potential impact of CA Senate Bill 206, the ‘Fair Pay to Play Act’ that would allow college athletes in the state to be compensated for the use of their name, image and likeness: Here’s a detailed breakdown from Sports Illustrated legal analyst Michael McCann, who writes: “California colleges would face an unenviable choice: comply with state law and defy NCAA rules, or violate state law and adhere to NCAA rules. It seems unlikely that the NCAA would terminate the memberships of California colleges on account of following state law.”

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Huddle Up

• From last week but easily overlooked because of the holiday weekend: The 2019 postseason schedule was released by ESPN, and it features 15 bowl games after the CFP semifinals. USA Today’s Dan Wolken weighs in: “This is like going to a restaurant and being served the main course and the dessert before the salad.”

• Oregon coach Mario Cristobal is getting a one-year contract extension that would take him through the 2023 season.

• Washington could use an impact year from incoming freshman receiver Puka Nacua.

• Utah continues to fortify its roster as the Utes add JC linebacker Trennan Carlson.

• Oregon State coach Jonathan Smith joined John Canzano on the Bald Face Truth radio show for a 30-minute conversation.

• USC signee Kenan Christon is fast … as fast as any California high school player, ever.

• Note: The Thursday edition of the newsletter included a link to an article on Utah offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig’s contract. I bungled the numbers: Ludwig will earn $2.5 million over the course of the three-year deal.

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Beer Me

• The first year of an expanded alcohol policy for Arizona football and basketball games was a success. Fans behaved. (The spike in year-over-year ejections from Arizona Stadium might have more to do with the opponents than the booze.)

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Recruiting Trail

• Bru McCoy, the former USC enrollee, is about to become a future USC enrollee. The 5-star athlete from Mater Dei is reportedly leaving Texas after four months and returning to USC, where he spent a few weeks at the turn of the year.

• Arizona State landed a receiver … for the class of 2021. Meet Alonzo Fontenette, who saw no reason to put off his commitment to the Sun Devils.

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On the hardwood

• Oregon State received good news just before the holiday weekend: Forward Tres Tinkle has withdrawn from the NBA Draft and will spend one more year churning out double-doubles in Corvallis.

• Meanwhile, the stay-or-go deadline is 24 hours away. Here’s an overview of Pac-12 rosters from Buffzone’s Pat Rooney.

• Devonaire Doutrive was a ballyhooed recruit for Arizona a year ago. Now, he’s gone.

• UCLA coach Mick Cronin continues to fill out his staff. The newest assistant: Michael Lewis.

• Also from Westwood: A first-person account of one fan’s unexpected encounter with UCLA guard David Singleton.

• Basketball recruiting rolls on for clean and implicated programs alike — all of it against the backdrop of looming NCAA investigations

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Choice Reads

• Nathan Fenno, the L. A. Times’ ace investigative reporter, dug into the FBI’s evidence against former USC assistant Tony Bland. “A detailed account of how authorities built their case against Bland — and why some of the allegations fell apart — resides among a trove of videos, text messages, emails and transcripts of wiretapped calls introduced as evidence during the recent trial of Dawkins and former Adidas employee Merl Code.” A long read, and a riveting one.

• The view from afar: Folks are sleeping on Washington and quarterback Jacob Eason, writes Saturday Down South’s Connor O’Gara, who wonders if Eason might blossom in his new envirornment the way Drew Lock did with fresh leadership at Missouri.

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Medal Stand

Content on Pac-12 Olympic sports …

• Three teams advanced to the Women’s College World Series: Washington, UCLA and Arizona. ESPN looks at each team’s path to Oklahoma City. Here’s the full bracket and schedule.

• Meanwhile, UCLA is the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA baseball tournament, while four other Pac-12 teams joined the Bruins in the postseason.

• The secret to Washington’s rowing success can be found indoors.

• Will he stay or will he go? The uncertain future of Oregon baseball coach George Horton.

• The conference has expanded, adding Arkansas Little Rock in wrestling. (No joke.)

• One Pac-12 school qualified for a bowl game, March Madness and the NCAA baseball tournament in the 2018-19 sports cycle.

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Looking Ahead

What’s coming on the Pac-12 Hotline:

• We’ll know on Wednesday whether the Pac-12 survived the NBA Draft process with reasonable or excessive damage.

• The early-season football TV/kickoff schedule is expected to be released by the conference in the next week or two.

• Speaking of football schedules … Which team has the toughest? The Hotline breaks ’em all down as our post-spring practice look-ahead series continues.

The next newsletter is scheduled for Friday. Enjoy the newsletter? Please forward this email to friends (sign up here). If you don’t, or have other feedback, let me know: pac12hotline@bayareanewsgroup.com.

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*** Follow me on Twitter: @WilnerHotline

*** Pac-12 Hotline is not endorsed or sponsored by the Pac-12 Conference, and the views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the views of the Conference.