Why is everyone leaving the Pac-12? How Big Ten, media rights influenced exits by Oregon, Washington & more

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Zac Al-Khateeb
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• 10 min read
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Any remaining hopes the Pac-12 had of stopping a mass exodus of teams are long gone.

Colorado's defection back to its historical home in the Big 12 was merely the first domino. Commissioner George Kliavkoff's inability to put together a lucrative media rights deal with his member institutions opened the door for further inroads by the likes of the Big Ten and Big 12.

Updates were slow coming, even as rumors piled up that Arizona, Arizona State and Utah were considering following Colorado to the Big 12. Then followed an outright admission from the Big Ten that it was looking into further Pac-12 additions in Oregon and Washington, depending on what happened with the conference's remaining "Four Corner" schools.

It all came to a head on Friday: The Big Ten admitted the Ducks and Huskies into the conference, while the Big 12 announced the arrivals of Arizona, Arizona State and Utah not long after. Those steps further advanced the rapid diminishment of the Pac-12 from nine teams to a paltry four.

BENDER: How Oregon, Washington defections impact Big Ten schedule, realignment

Here's everything you need to know about the mass exodus, how the Big Ten and Big 12 poached the Pac-12 and how Kliavkoff's inability to negotiate a media rights deal led to teams' willingness to leave:

Why is everyone leaving the Pac-12?

Multiple answers exist, but the simplest at the moment is money. The Pac-12 has long trailed behind the other so-called "Power 5" conferences in terms of their media rights deals. Importantly, that includes the average annual payout for each individual school.

There's more to this decision than just money (though not considerably more). The Pac-12 has remained a non-factor in two of college athletics' most popular sports, football and basketball. The conference hasn't produced a national champion in football since USC in 2003 and 2004. Nor has it produced a College Football Playoff team since Washington in 2016.

Basketball hasn't been much better, even with traditional powers Arizona, UCLA and others in tow. The conference hasn't produced an NCAA Tournament champion since the Wildcats in 1997, and haven't had a team make the championship game since the Bruins lost to Florida in 2006.

Those are considerable factors in teams' exit from the conference but, once again, the most pressing issue at the moment is money — especially as it relates to the Pac-12's failed attempt to negotiate a lucrative media rights deal.

BENDER: Pac-12's 2023 season has lost all magic with impending realignment

Pac-12 media rights deal, explained

The Pac-12's media rights deal is the crux of its college football realignment issue: namely, how it compares to other conferences'. Its current 12-year, $3 billion with Fox and ESPN will expire in 2024, meaning the conference had to get a deal in place to remain a cohesive whole.

As reported by ESPN's Pete Thamel, Kliavkoff presented that deal on Tuesday to Pac-12 leadership: a tier-based, primarily streaming setup with Apple TV+.

It reportedly would net higher payouts per school the more subscriptions the conference drove. Still, it was believed to generate in the low $20 millions per institution, and the meeting ended without an agreement in place.

The Pac-12's inability to agree to a media deal in place is important: It made it more feasible for teams to leave the conference and, because its current deal is up in 2024, current member institutions will not be subject to an exit fee when they leave.

The numbers of the Pac-12's proposed deal paled in comparison to the Big 12's, whose $2.3 billion media rights deal with Fox and ESPN included a clause that guaranteed any Power 5 conference team it added through expansion — up to four — would be paid a pro rata amount: $31.7 million, in the case of Colorado.

That is considerably more than the Pac-12's deal, which stands in even starker contrast to multi-billion dollar deals signed by the Big Ten and SEC. The Big Ten reportedly will see member schools make $100 million beginning in 2025, while the SEC is projected to make between $60 million and $70 million per school.

Even the ACC, whose seemingly ironclad grant of rights runs through the 2036, sees member schools make more than the Pac-12's proposed deal: roughly $39.4 million per school.

One of the more damning aspects of the Pac-12's proposed media deal is the fact Oregon and Washington reportedly preferred to jump to the Big Ten, where — despite making less money than other members — they would still make more than if they remained in the Pac-12.

According to a report by the Associated Press, the Ducks and Huskies mulled a deal that would see them make in the low $30 millions. They can reportedly be advanced money from future payments and begin making as much as $45 million per year in the Big Ten. Once their new conference renegotiates its new deal, they would reportedly make the same as other member institutions.

Additional reporting by Matt Fortuna indicated Oregon and Washington would earn $30 million per year starting in 2024, then an additional $1 million per year through the end of the current deal. The deal reportedly includes the possibility of borrowing from future payments.

MORE: Latest news in Pac-12 realignment saga

Who is leaving the Pac-12?

The following teams will leave the Pac-12 after the 2023 athletic calendar year:

  • USC
  • UCLA
  • Colorado
  • Oregon
  • Washington
  • Arizona
  • Arizona State
  • Utah

USC and UCLA were the first to leave the Pac-12, reaching an agreement to defect to the Big Ten ahead of the 2022 season. They won't officially make the jump until 2024. Colorado was the third school to jump ship to the Big 12, on late July 27.

Even those exits left open the possibility the Pac-12 could make key additions from other conferences and remain a "Power 5" conference. Indeed, reports as recent as Thursday indicated the Pac-12 felt optimistic it could retain its remaining member schools despite inroads from the Big Ten and Big 12.

That changed Friday with numerous reports that Oregon and Washington — despite some pushback from Big Ten schools — were finalizing a deal to join the conference.

The Big Ten formally announced the additions of Oregon and Washington on Friday. Commissioner Tony Petitti said in a statement, "We look forward to building long-lasting relationships with the universities, administrators and staff, student-athletes, coaches and fans."

Later on Friday, the Big 12 announced the official admissions of Arizona, Arizona State and Utah, corroborating reports the three "Four Corner" schools would act in lockstep. With that, a total of eight Pac-12 teams have defected in the span of little over a year.

Via Brett McMurphy of the Action Network:

Of note: Dan Wetzel of Yahoo Sports reported on Wednesday the Big Ten was considering more additions beside just Oregon and Washington. If the conference decides to expand to 20 teams, then it would most likely look to Cal and Stanford.

BENDER: Pac-12 departures sap excitement from intriguing season ahead

Pac-12 remaining teams

Only four member schools will remain in the Pac-12 after the 2023 season following official announcements from the Big Ten and Big 12:

  • Washington State
  • Oregon State
  • Stanford
  • Cal

Pac-12 school statements

The Pac-12 and several of its remaining institutions statements issued expressing disappointment at Friday's events while looking toward the future:

Pac-12 statement

Cal statement

Stanford statement

Washington State statement

What will happen to the Pac-12?

It will be extremely difficult, if not outright impossible, for the Pac-12 to remain an independent entity.

One possibility moving forward is a merger with the Mountain West Conference which, according to a report from Yahoo Sports' Ross Dellenger, the MWC is receptive to. As noted by Dellenger, the likelihood the Pac-12 will add acquisitions from the Mountain West in time for the 2024 season is less likely, as the MWC has a $34 million per-school exit fee.

Still, the Mountain West represents the best option for the Pac-12 to stay alive in some form: It has several notable programs within the Pacific footprint, including California-based institutions Fresno State, San Diego State and San Jose State. Other notable programs in football and basketball include UNLV, Nevada, Colorado State and Boise State.

Whether the conferences would merge and take on the Pac-12 name remains to be seen. It's also possible the Pac-12 dissolves, with the four remaining schools moving instead to the MWC.

One other potential move forward — one that seems unlikely, given the state of the conference — is an agreement with the ACC, whose own schools have publicly griped at the state of the conference's media rights deal. That might have been a possibility had the Pac-12 managed to secure its biggest remaining assets.

Dellenger reported on Friday that the ACC had planned to expand its own conference with teams from the Pac-12, a strategy that quickly dissolved with Friday's defections:

With exits by Oregon, Washington, Utah and the Arizona schools, however, it makes considerably less sense for the ACC to merge with Oregon State, Washington State, Cal and Stanford, programs that do not offer near the level of financial gain as their — as of yet — Pac-12 counterparts.

One thing is certain, however: The Pac-12 as it has come to be known will no longer exist after 2023.

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Zac Al-Khateeb Photo
Zac Al-Khateeb

Zac Al-Khateeb is a content producer for The Sporting News.