Finalized Pac-12 Media Deal Likely Not Enough To Attract Tulane Football
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The Pac-12 has finally found a primary partner for media rights.
They announced a deal with CBS Sports through the 2030-31 college football season.
Now, the only thing left for the new-look conference is to find its final member school to be in NCAA compliance.
As developments continue, it appears increasingly unlikely that Tulane will join, even as a football-only member.
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As Ross Dellenger of Yahoo! Sports reports, the Pac-12 is expected to prioritize Texas State as conference officials have engaged school executives.
What seems incredibly significant is the timing of exit fee penalties, as the Bobcats’ current exit fee from the Sun Belt Conference is $5 million. That figure doubles on July 1 to give notice of leaving in July 2026.
For schools in the American Conference, like the Green Wave and Memphis Tigers, those exit fee penalties are closer to $20 million. The initial offer extended last year did not sufficiently cover those fees.
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The overarching thought was that a potentially lucrative media deal would allow the Pac-12 to cover more of the AAC exit fees, but Dellenger reports that the annual figure per school is expected to be on the low side of the projections shown to targets last year, which is reportedly $8-15 million.
Whether the Pac-12 has interest in adding past Texas State is not entirely clear, but the move doesn’t seem to be in Tulane or Memphis’ best interest with the new media rights details.
The reported deal with CBS Sports will broadcast the annual Pac-12 championship game on CBS and stream it live on Paramount+, as well as the annual men’s basketball tournament championship game.
They must have a minimum of three regular season football and basketball games on CBS and Paramount+ each season, with games in the regular season on the CBS Sports Network, though no details were specified.
There will be as many as four partners in the media package deal expected at a later date.
That doesn’t seem to come close to the exposure awarded by the regular ESPN broadcasts for the Green Wave through the AAC media rights deal, which runs through 2031-32.
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The American Championship game is televised on ABC or ESPN each year, and there is a minimum of 40 regular season telecasts per football season on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU, with a minimum of 20 on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2.
The agreement also mandates a comparable number of Thursday and Friday night games to ensure primetime exposure across the ESPN networks.
As reported by the Memphis Commercial Appeal, Tulane received $12.3 million in 2023 after their Cotton Bowl win and $10.8 million in 2024.
That seems to fall within the reported range of the Pac-12 annual payout per school, but without accounting for exit fee penalties, travel costs and, frankly, reduced exposure per the initial terms of the media rights deal.
For more Tulane news, head over to Tulane Green Wave On SI.
Maddy Hudak is the deputy editor for Tulane on Sports Illustrated and the radio sideline reporter for their football team. Maddy is an alumnus of Tulane University, and graduated in 2016 with a degree in psychology. She went on to obtain a Master of Legal Studies while working as a research coordinator at the VA Hospital, and in jury consulting. During this time, Maddy began covering the New Orleans Saints with SB Nation, and USA Today. She moved to New Orleans in 2021 to pursue a career in sports and became Tulane's sideline reporter that season. She enters her fourth year with the team now covering the program on Sports Illustrated, and will use insights from features and interviews in the live radio broadcast. You can follow her on X at @MaddyHudak_94, or if you have any questions or comments, she can be reached via email at maddy.hudak1@gmail.com