14:05 ET
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Pete Tamel
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Heather Dinich
CloseESPN senior writer
- College football reporter
- He joined ESPN.com in 2007
- He graduated from Indiana University
USC and UCLA, two of the Pac-12’s flagship programs, plan to leave the Top Ten conference as early as 2024 and are considered an inevitable move, ESPN sources confirmed on Thursday.
Mercury News was the first to announce the news.
There is still a formal notification process, as both schools have to notify Pac-12 of their intentions to leave. USC and UCLA must also formally apply for the Big Ten. According to a source, this process is underway.
Numerous sources told ESPN on Thursday that the move was expected to take place. A source called the next steps “formalities” and a message could come within the next 24 hours.
A source said that the study of finances and what is needed to make this move has been going on for weeks. While finance played a big role in relocation, competitiveness, the brand and the overall landscape of the future of the sport played a bigger role.
“USC and UCLA need to make decisions to best position them in the long run,” a source familiar with the move told ESPN. “The future is so uncertain that we must act from a position of strength.”
The reason this move would be less destructive than potential moves in the ACC is that the USC and UCLA have rights that are related to the current Pac-12 TV contract, which expires after the 2023 football season and the 2023 school year. -24. Therefore, both schools are expected to go to the league for the 2024-25 season and not suffer any financial sanctions.
Pac-12 officials have for years demanded that both schools in Los Angeles extend their rights. The fact that they did not do so hinted that they had more ambition.
“We just got Sooner’d and Horn’d,” a senior university official at one of the Pac-12 schools told ESPN, citing a decision taken last year by Texas and Oklahoma to leave the Big 12 conference for the SEC. .
The financial pressure felt by the Pac-12 is similar to that felt in the ACC and beyond, as conference revenue projections – which may vary and are not always linear – force the SEC and Big Ten to make almost double some of the other Power 5 leagues later this decade. This financial pressure left USC and UCLA with the choice to harass Pac-12 for unequal revenue shares or go elsewhere and take a place at the table in the long run. The impact of finances will not only allow them to remain competitive nationally in football, but can also maintain support for all sports, including women’s sports and non-income sports.
“As Texas and Oklahoma go to the SEC, it has become clear to these schools that there is only one option,” said a source familiar with the move.
It will be interesting to see how this will affect Fox’s upcoming TV deal with the Big Ten, which is expected to be announced in the coming weeks. The addition of the two schools brings both the West Coast and one of the most attractive media markets in the country.
This move is devastating for the future of Pac-12, as Fox’s added investment in UCLA and USC inventory in Big Ten means that anyone who invests in Pac-12, part of which Fox has long owned, will be significantly reduced. This move leaves the league with Oregon and Washington as the best schools after losing the two biggest brands.
“I’ve always been of the opinion that UCLA can’t leave Cal,” a Pac-12 source told ESPN. “There is no more political state than this or system than this. It was very surprising.”
Pac-12 Commissioner George Klyavkov was not immediately available for comment.
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