Pac-12 fires senior executives following investigation into failure to report overpayments from Pac-12 Networks partner
The conference used an outside legal firm.
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The Pac-12 on Friday terminated the employment of two senior executives, including the president of the Pac-12 Networks, for failing to disclose overpayments by a media distribution partner to the networks that made the annual revenue appear more robust than it was.
Commissioner George Kliavkoff carried out the dismissals with approval of the Pac-12 Board of Directors (the university presidents) and following an investigation by an independent, outside legal firm.
The conference did not identify the executives.
However, soon after the Pac-12 staff was informed of the situation, two names were removed from the staff directory: Pac-12 Networks president Mark Shuken and CFO Brent Willman, who oversees finances for both networks and conference operations.
A source confirmed they were the executives terminated.
The distribution partner, also unidentified, claims the overpayments totaled $50 million over the course of years, potentially impacting Pac-12 athletic department budgets in the future. (ESPN and Fox are not Pac-12 Networks distribution partners.)
