3 Takeaways from the Pac-12’s Media Rights Deals

Two years ago, the Conference of Champions was on the brink of collapse. Now, it is about to thrive again. This piece breaks down why.

Sep 13, 2025; Lubbock, Texas, USA; A general view of the PAC 12 logo on the back of the Oregon State Beavers helmet on the bench during the game against the Texas Tech Red Raiders at Jones AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Michael C. Johnson-Imagn Images | Michael C. Johnson-Imagn Images

In late June 2022, the Pac-12 Conference began to crack: the two biggest college athletics programs in the nation’s second-largest media market, USC & UCLA, left for the Big Ten. Thirteen months later, eight others departed.

Though those moves continue to reverberate across the college football landscape, hope is returning to the Pac-12. Yesterday, the Conference of Champions announced another media rights deal - securing their third future broadcast partner in the past five months - with USA Sports. 


With those three moves now in the rear-view mirror, this piece addresses three takeaways, and assesses the conference’s growth potential.

The Pac-12 is Boxing Out the Mountain West

Clearly, the Pac-12 had a vision of building a Best of the West college sports conference: last September they added five of the Mountain West Conference’s most competitive schools - Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State, and Utah State - plus perennial men’s basketball tournament darlings Gonzaga. Earlier this summer, they snagged a potential diamond in the rough named Texas State; the Bobcats boast over forty thousand students enrolled, and an emerging market within a 1 hour drive from either San Antonio or Austin. In comparison, the Mountain West Conference includes weaker brands, smaller fanbases, and lower television ratings.

What networks will broadcast Mountain West games next year? CBS has its hands full with the Big Ten and Pac-12. The same can be said for NBC, the parent company of the Pac-12’s newest partner USA Network. The CW has the ACC and Pac-12 on its plate. ESPN is booked solid: college football spans a whole week on the former Worldwide Leader thanks to agreements with the SEC, Big 12, ACC, AAC, MAC, Sun Belt, and more. That leaves Fox: the past two seasons have seen Fox (and its dedicated sports networks FS1) carry Mountain West games in Saturday night timeslots. The network’s commitments to the Big Ten and Big 12 fill up the rest of its college football lineup.

The Mountain West could pivot to their in-house streaming platform, but that would invite risks: the conference would need to hire announcers, production crews, and invest in infrastructure upgrades required to stream live games into millions of homes at once. In addition, the platform would need to generate revenue from advertisers, subscribers, or both.

By slicing off pieces of their media rights to several different broadcast partners, the Pac-12 narrowed the Mountain West’s potential suitors. Now, the Pac-12's fiercest competitor is on the brink.

Pac-12 Enterprises is a Bargaining Chip

When the great exodus of Pac-12 member schools began in 2022, many talented broadcasters and producers at Pac-12 Network saw the writing on the wall. Others were laid off. Even fewer survived, running a skeleton crew that has stayed involved with various Oregon State & Washington State game broadcasts.

Forged under fire, the conference’s broadcast wing Pac-12 Enterprises now wields a wealth of experienced broadcast talent. Yesterday’s announcement of the partnership with USA Sports included a note that Pac-12 Enterprises will be utilized for game broadcast production, assisting with over 45 football games and 100 basketball games annually.

For broadcast networks, a Pac-12 partnership might not deliver power conference ratings, but the cost to air games will be significantly cheaper.

The Pac-12 Wants to Stream Games

Before its 2023 realignment, conference leadership discussed an offer from AppleTV. Then earlier this summer, Apple was once-again floated as a potential partner. Given the conference’s rocky relationship with television, it makes sense that some university presidents would consider high-tech alternatives. While this latest round of media rights agreements does not include Apple, the Pac-12 established new connections with other streaming providers. 

As a part of their agreement with Paramount, the parent-company of CBS and CBS Sports Network, a handful of Pac-12 games will stream on Paramount+. In addition, the league’s new agreement with USA Sports opens the door for potential streaming on Peacock, the platform owned by USA Network’s parent company Comcast NBCUniversal. After several years furthering connections with their new broadcast partners, and improving their streaming audiences, the conference is positioned to pivot to an exclusive streaming deal with Apple or Amazon in the 2030s.

Streaming won’t kill the television star tomorrow, but it’s only a matter of time. By streaming games, the Pac-12 is preparing for a future beyond television.