Pac-12 deal to fill airwaves with college sp..

Agreement • Lucrative deal with ESPN, Fox Sports will give universities money, exposure

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The Pac-12 Conference's lucrative new media deal, made official Wednesday morning, will be heavenly for Utah sports fans.

Besides contributing an estimated $21 million annually to each of the conference's dozen schools when the deal begins in 2012, the 12-year deal with ESPN and Fox Sports Media Group will fill television and digital screens with sports action of all sorts, conference commissioner Larry Scott said during a news conference in Phoenix.

During football season, 88 Pac-12 games will appear on network or national cable channels, while the rest of the conference's contests will be shown on a newly created Pac-12 Network.

In basketball season, 68 regular-season men's games will be on Fox or one of ESPN's channels, with the other 120 games on the Pac-12 Network.

Scott said the conference will make a special push to focus on women's basketball and is intent on providing significant Pac-12 Network coverage of other sports.

In addition, he said the conference will use the television agreement to "connect the dots between athletics and the education mission of [its] universities," perhaps carrying coverage of famous people who makes speeches at Pac-12 schools.

Because some of the most famous innovators in the world of technology come from Pac-12 schools, Craig said the conference also is emphasizing the development of Pac-12 Digital Network packages on "all available platforms, including the computer, mobile and tablets."

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Pac-12 deal to fill airwaves with college sports