The Pac-12 college football conference is dismantling, with 8 of the 12 teams departing to join other conferences. The University of Utah, Arizona State, Boulder, and the University of Arizona joined the Big 12. The University of Oregon, the University of Washington, USC, and UCLA joined the Big 10.
The recent departure of teams stems from the former Pac-12’s inability to develop a stable media rights deal in time for the upcoming 2024 season. The Pac-12 had backing from ESPN and Fox in previous seasons, with an annual value of 250 million. With the deal expiring, the Pac-12 looked to Apple to develop a new deal. Apple was prepared to pay 25 million per team (the Big 12 are set to get 31.7 million per team from ESPN/FOX), but Apple would include a bonus. They would pay more to the Pac-12 based on how many subscribers they could generate; the uncertainty of the added value made partners within the Pac-12 nervous for their bottom lines. As the Pac-12 deal talks progressed, the other competing conferences with established backers (Big 12 backed by ESPN/Fox & Big 10 backed by Fox/CBS/NBC) set their sights on acquiring valuable schools skeptical of the Pac-12 business strategy.
Teams leaving the Pac-12 will still play in the 2023 season - but once the 2024 season begins, the previously mentioned teams will find their new homes in the Big 10 and 12. The then Pac-4, containing Berkeley, Oregon State University, Stanford University, and Washington State University, will have to game plan the best next step for them to take. There is speculation that the Pac-4 will merge or partner with the Mountain West Conference, but it has yet to be seen if the remaining Pac-4 teams would be on board with the partnership.
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