Just one week after losing the University of Colorado to the Big 12, the Pac-12 is as good as dead.
On Friday, Oregon and Washington announced they will join the Big Ten in 2024.
The two schools will receive a $35-$40 million share per year in the Big Ten — money graciously sent by Fox Sports, the Big Ten’s main media rights partner, a source told Front Office Sports.
A university official confirmed on the Oregon call that that offer would be more than the Pac-12 would have provided from its reported media deal with Apple.
Last year, former Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren explored having the two schools join the conference, another source told FOS. But the conference was divided at the time.
But more than a year later, the Big Ten realized it needed to make moves. The source said the conference did so just in the last few days.
The flurry of realignment moves result from the Pac-12’s inability to deliver a palatable media rights deal. Reports have suggested the conference, which took 13 months to present a deal, finally offered schools a deal with Apple. The streamer would take the majority of Pac-12 content, and pay out in the $20 million range per school in guaranteed money, with escalators based on subscriptions.
An expert industry source previously told FOS the deal wasn’t going to be enough from a distribution or reach standpoint. Clearly, it didn’t provide enough money either.
“The stability and exposure of joining the Big Ten is of great benefit to the University of Oregon,” Oregon athletic director Rob Mullens said in a statement. Stability and exposure were the exact same reasons Colorado said it was leaving the Pac-12 for the Big 12.
Now, the Pac-12 is collapsing. Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah are also intending to join the Big 12.
The four remaining Pac-12 schools will be left to try to merge with another conference like the Mountain West or ACC, or go off to join conferences on their own.
