[chrisk]

But Cal and Stanford are also two schools that don't put the football cart before the school horse. This means both schools could credibly threaten to drop football if ESPN low balls the Pac-10, and therefore create an "ESPN needs Cal and Stanford more than Cal and Stanford need ESPN's money" kind of dynamic. 

So you convince ESPN to pay more money by telling them football is so unimportant you may decide to drop it.  That's going to inspire ESPN to dump more money into a 3-9 Stanford team and a 5-7 Cal team. 

Based on recent reports, the Big 12 has concluded they don't see any realignment scenario with the PAC-12 adding value to what they have now.  ESPN has all the negotiating leverage if they are interested in the PAC-12 as a conference which they may not be.

The Pac10 does not have to sell all of its rights to ESPN. FOX currently has a significant share of the package.
Assuming they are no longer interested, NBC and CBS are potential bidders for some of the inventory. The bigger issue is what happens to the games currently on the Pac12 Network.

[chrisk]

But Cal and Stanford are also two schools that don't put the football cart before the school horse. This means both schools could credibly threaten to drop football if ESPN low balls the Pac-10, and therefore create an "ESPN needs Cal and Stanford more than Cal and Stanford need ESPN's money" kind of dynamic. 

So you convince ESPN to pay more money by telling them football is so unimportant you may decide to drop it.  That's going to inspire ESPN to dump more money into a 3-9 Stanford team and a 5-7 Cal team. 

Based on recent reports, the Big 12 has concluded they don't see any realignment scenario with the PAC-12 adding value to what they have now.  ESPN has all the negotiating leverage if they are interested in the PAC-12 as a conference which they may not be.

The Pac10 does not have to sell all of its rights to ESPN. FOX currently has a significant share of the package.
Assuming they are no longer interested, NBC and CBS are potential bidders for some of the inventory. The bigger issue is what happens to the games currently on the Pac12 Network.