Arizona State set to move to Big 12, leaving the Pac-12 behind

(Photo: Benjamin Parris/WCSN)

Arizona State will join the Big 12 Conference at the conclusion of the 2023-24 academic year, joining the mass exodus from the Pac-12, as conference leadership failed to present a viable media rights deal for the upcoming cycle. The Big 12 unanimously accepted ASU as a member on Friday evening.

After days, weeks, and months of rumors regarding conference realignment, the “Four Corners schools” became full members of the Big 12 on Aug 2, 2024. Pac-12 members Oregon and Washington announced their departures from the Pac-12 to the Big Ten on Friday afternoon. UCLA and USC were the first to announce their intentions to defect from the conference on June 2022.

“We are excited for this new chapter, a move that is necessary to remain competitive in top-tier Division 1 athletics,” said ASU President Michael Crow in a press release. “We are joining a premier athletic conference and bringing with us programs on the rise, our rich traditions and history, and the metro Phoenix media market. We’re in a good spot, and we are pleased to be with Arizona and Utah in the move.”

The Conference of Champions had been scrambling for more than 13 months to find a new media rights partner, as their current deal with ESPN and FOX is set to expire at the end of the 2023-24 year. ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported Friday morning that the Pac-12 presidents did not agree to sign a grant of rights with streaming platform Apple TV for the upcoming cycle. The reported payment would have given each school $20 million annually, falling short of the Big 12 and Big Ten’s payment to schools per year.

“We are thrilled to welcome Arizona, Arizona State and Utah to the Big 12,” Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark said. “The Conference is gaining three premier institutions both academically and athletically, and the entire Big 12 looks forward to working alongside their presidents, athletic directors, student-athletes and administrators.”

In July 2022, Commissioner Yormark said his conference was “open for business” on Big 12 football media day. “I think it’s fair to say I’ve received a lot of phone calls, a lot of interest. People understand the direction of the Big 12, and we’re exploring those levels of interest.”

Colorado was the first school to move from Pac-12 to Big 12 on July 27 — returning to the conference it left in 2010 — citing the changing landscape of college athletics and national exposure the conference gets as reasons for their move. The Big 12 presidents and chancellors approved Arizona’s application on Thursday evening before Arizona State’s and Utah’s on Friday.

All four of the new Big 12 members are expected to receive a full $31.7 million dollar cut of the Big 12’s media deal with ESPN and FOX, which will begin in 2025. That’s $10 million more than what Pac-12 members will receive from ESPN and FOX in the final year of their contract.

“The financial package is strong. The stability of the Big 12 is strong. We are ready, and the timing is right,” said Vice President for University Athletics Ray Anderson. “The exposure and visibility as well as the resources from the conference will help us compete for championships. From enhancing our ability to recruit Texas for football to the Big 12’s strength in basketball, good days are ahead.”

How did the Pac-12 get here?

In 2011 under Commissioner Larry Scott, the Pac-12 agreed to a 12-year media rights agreement with ESPN and FOX which included 44 football games, 68 men’s basketball games, five women’s basketball games and select Olympic events to be broadcasted each season. The deal also resulted with the establishment of the Pac-12 Networks, an entity completely owned and operated by the conference that would produce and distribute games not carried by ESPN or FOX. Each of the 12 members schools were set to receive roughly $21 million dollars annually.

“We are equally excited by the creation of Pac-12 Media Enterprises, which will enable us to launch our own Pac-12 television and digital networks, providing significantly more exposure for women’s sports and Olympic sports in which the Pac-12 excels, in addition to academic and other campus programming of interest to our fan base,” Scott said at the time. “These new platforms will also provide us with an unprecedented opportunity to control the distribution of our intellectual property rights in sports, education and other Conference and membership initiatives.”

The network faced problems with distribution after being unable to come to an agreement with cable provider DirecTV at launch. In 2022, it was estimated the network reached approximately 15 million subscribers, while Big Ten Network (co-owned by FOX) reached approximately 50 million and SEC Network (co-owned by ESPN) reached 70 million households.

“You have to look at this based on where we’ll be after 10 years. Not three,” Scott said.

In 2018, ESPN made an offer to partner on Pac-12 Networks, just as they had on SEC Network in 2015, but the university presidents declined, seeking a bigger payday — due to cord cutting and the emergence of streaming — when it was time to renew the conference’s media rights deal. Sports Business Journal reported that the deal with ESPN would have seen ESPN take on distribution of the networks and extend their deal through the mid 2030s, a move, that in retrospect, could have locked down UCLA and USC.

Scott stepped down as commissioner in 2021 and would leave new commissioner George Kliavkoff to strike a new deal with media partners.

“At one point, our television agreement was the most lucrative in the nation and the debut of the Pac-12 Network helped deliver our championship brand to US and global markets on traditional and digital platforms,” the conference said in a statement. “That said, the intercollegiate athletics marketplace doesn’t remain static and now is a good time to bring in a new leader who will help us develop our go-forward strategy.”

One year after Kliavkoff stepped into the commissioner role, UCLA and USC announced with the Big 10 that they would become members in 2024 and be the first two schools to exit the Confernce of Champions. Five days later, the conference announced that its board of directors had authorized the negotiation a new media rights deal as the current deal with ESPN and FOX is set to expire at the end of the 2023-24 academic year. The conference reportedly had a 30-day exclusive window with ESPN and FOX to negotiate a new deal last summer but did not reach an agreement.

In April 2023, Arizona State University President Michael Crow told Arizona State’s student newspaper The State Press, “We’re close to knowing where we’re going to be, and I think we’re close to a deal. I think that the Pac-12 media rights became more complicated with the departure of USC and UCLA.”

Throughout the last year, the timeline for the presentation of a deal from Kliavkoff was pushed back, until Tuesday morning. Thamel reported that Kliavkoff presented the conference presidents and chancellors with a deal primarily on Apple’s subscription-based service. The conference presidents met again on Friday morning but did not agree to sign the grant of rights, leaving them without a media rights deal and their schools in a frenzy for stability.

What’s Next?

The Sun Devils will still compete in the Pac-12 as normal for the 2023-24 year with a normal conference schedule across all sports. ASU’s head football coach Kenny Dillingham will only have one attempt to make an appearance in the Pac-12 Championship in Las Vegas while the rest of the conference tournaments will commence for what could be the final time.

“We will always have fond memories of the Pac-12 conference and this move will not change our appreciation of more than 40 years of experiences, rivalries, partnerships, and traditions,” President Crow said. “But now, it is the right time for change.”

The Conference of Champions will compete all together for the final time this coming spring during the men’s golf conference championship and women’s track and field conference championship — the only two spring sports that are sponsored by every member in the conference.

“Today’s news is incredibly disappointing for student-athletes, fans, alumni, and staff of the Pac-12 who cherish the over 100-year history, traditions, and rivalries of the Conference of Champions,” the Pac-12 said in a statement Friday night. “We remain focused on securing the best possible future for each of our member universities.”