Pac-12 Execs Fired Over Failure to Report $50M in Overpayments

Two Pac-12 senior executives were fired last week for failing to disclose overpayments by a Pac-12 Networks distribution partner.

The conference announced on Friday that the executives fired were made aware of the overpayments — which date back to 2016— in December 2017 following an audit, but didn’t disclose the findings to the Pac-12 Board of Directors or the conference’s external auditors.

Names of the executives weren’t listed in the announcement, though reports noted that Pac-12 Networks president Mark Shaken and CFO Brent Willman were removed from the staff directory. The Mercury News received confirmation that they were the executives fired.

The distribution partner claimed in October 2022 that it had been overpaying the conference, by a total of more than $50 million.

• The Pac-12 Board of Directors Audit Committee hired Cooley LLP to conduct an independent investigation. 
• Cooley briefed commissioner George Kliavkoff on Jan. 13, 2023, after the investigation’s conclusion.

It’s unclear if the conference will have to pay the distribution partner.

Pac-12 Payments

The overpayments made the Pac-12’s annual revenue appear higher than it actually was — and could reportedly affect the conference’s schools’ athletic department budgets.

For 2020-21, the Pac-12 reported consolidated revenue of $344 million.