The SEC distributed $31.2 million to each school for 2014-15, which includes money from all of the conference’s TV agreements as well as a reported $5 million per school generated by the SEC Network, which is wholly owned by ESPN.

The Big Ten reportedly distributed $30.9 million, including $7 million to each school from the Big Ten Network. Fox has a 51-percent ownership stake in that network, with the conference controlling the remaining 49 percent.

The Pac-12 doesn’t disclose its annual payouts, but Oregon budgeted $22.6 million in NCAA/Pac-12 revenue for 2014-15, a figure that includes NCAA Tournament revenue, bowl revenue and TV money. The per-school payout from the Pac-12 Networks, according to The San Jose Mercury News, is roughly $1 million.

That gap is expected to grow when the Big Ten’s first-tier media rights — basically, the rights to broadcast high-profile football games — become available following the 2016-17 season. If it grows too far, Pac-12 schools could find themselves at a competitive disadvantage, unable to pay top-flight coaches or maintain the growth they’ve enjoyed recently.

The league isn’t hurting right now, and any panic would be premature. But schools are paying attention, realizing the Pac-12 Network needs to perform if they’re going to keep pace with their peers.

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Pac-12 schools are watching intently to see whether AT&T’s acquisition of DirecTV, approved last week by the Federal Communications Commission, proves to be a game-changer for the Pac-12 Networks.

The Pac-12 has a business relationship with AT&T, creating an opening to restart stalled negotiations. An agreement with DirecTV could make the Pac-12 Networks available to another 4 million subscribers, according to The Mercury News, and generate another $2.9 million per school annually.

A person familiar with these negotiations cautioned that a deal with DirecTV is not a slam dunk. The sticking point all along, DirecTV’s insistence on a lower per-subscriber fee than the Pac-12 charged other providers, won’t magically dissolve with new ownership.

Still, optimism exists that the Pac-12 Networks will soon be available to a wider audience — if not in time for the kickoff of football season, then perhaps shortly thereafter.