New Pac-12 Projection Could Triple Revenue for Incoming Schools After Realignment Fallout
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After nearly collapsing during college football’s brutal realignment, the Pac-12 isn’t just surviving; it’s about to pay out three times more to the schools that joined it. The conference lost 10 major programs, watched its TV money crash from $381 million to just $3 million, and lost nearly $500 million in revenue. But a new projection shows incoming schools going from around $4 million to $13.2 million annually. That’s not recovery; that’s tripling.
The Pac-12 lost a huge amount of money from July 2024 through June 2025, having made only $111.5 million in 2025, compared to $566.6 million the year prior. The biggest problem came from television deals. Television rights money crashed from $381 million down to only $3 million. During the 2024 football season, Oregon State and Washington State games mostly aired on The CW Network and Fox Sports.
The Pac-12 spent $133.2 million but brought in only $111.5 million, leaving a $21.7 million deficit. So, to tackle such drastic dips in numbers, the Pac-12 is taking huge steps.
As per Boise State alum Will’s information on X, “The Pac-12 is expected to distribute $13.2 million per year to its full-share schools, according to a Washington State Board of Regents meeting. Schools like Boise State & Gonzaga, that were earning roughly $3.5m to $5.7m in recent years, are getting 2x-3x raises.”
Think of it like this: a small-town factory worker who made $40,000 a year suddenly getting a raise to $120,000. That’s what’s happening to Boise State and Gonzaga. They were scraping by with $3.5–5.7 million from their old conference. Now? They’re looking at $13.2 million — triple what they had. For schools in Idaho and Connecticut, that changes everything.
They are also investing in their TV deals. CBS will become the main TV partner for the league, while The CW will also continue showing Pac-12 games. The conference also signed a five-year agreement with the USA Network. Best part? The CW also recently made a streaming partnership with ESPN. Under this agreement, live sports events shown on The CW will stream on the ESPN app. This will help more fans watch Pac-12 games across different platforms.
For the incoming members, the math is simple. What used to be about $4 million per school in their old conference now becomes $13.2 million in the Pac‑12. That jump is close to triple, giving these programs a totally different financial baseline than they had before realignment hit.
Here’s the real win, though. When CBS and ESPN both carry Pac-12 games, more eyes means more ad money. More ad money means more paychecks for schools. It’s like a local farmer who used to sell corn at one roadside stand but now has three markets buying his crop. The crop’s the same, the games, but the buyers multiply the income.
Along with that investment, they also added top teams like Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, Gonzaga, San Diego State, and Utah State. Now, the conference has to work on breaking the difference in earnings compared to other conferences.
Remember when Oregon State and Washington State stayed behind while everyone else left? They got $29 million each in 2025 — down from $46 million. The schools that jumped to the Big Ten? UCLA and USC took home $76 million and $78 million. Now the Pac-12 is saying, “We’re not staying behind anymore. Join us, and your check triples while others get cut.”
For example, Oregon State and Washington State stayed in the Pac-12 after most schools left the conference. In fiscal 2025, each school received $29 million from the Pac-12. That was much lower than the $46 million they each received the previous year. The 10 schools that left the Pac-12 also received around $30 million each through a settlement agreement. The difference became very clear after the move.
UCLA and USC earned $76 million and $78 million in their first season in the Big Ten Conference. Even Oregon and Washington made big money, receiving partial shares worth $47 million and $48 million. Apart from them, the difference is that the salary structure also shows the conference is lacking in money. Leadership changed, too. Teresa Gould took over as commissioner after George Kliavkoff’s departure. Public filings show commissioner pay varies widely across conferences. The SEC’s commissioner earned nearly five times what the Pac-12’s new leader received.
Even after losing most of its schools, the Pac-12 still pulled in major money from postseason bowl payouts. Out of the conference’s $111.5 million revenue, about $74.4 million came from College Football Playoff bowl distributions. Washington State was the only Pac-12 team to play in a bowl game after the 2024 season, but the team lost 52-35 to Syracuse in the Holiday Bowl.
The Pac-12 also received around $50 million from the Rose Bowl because of an older settlement agreement connected to the schools that left the conference. So, now the league has to plan all of its expenses properly to survive in the competition.
Pac-12 puts up a new logo with a solid message
The Pac-12 showed its new logo on April 27 as part of the conference’s big comeback. Even though the league now has fewer schools, it still kept the “12” in the name Pac-12. The conference said the new logo stands for “no boundaries, upward trajectory, history, aggression, and more.” In very simple words, the Pac-12 wants the logo to show growth, strength, confidence, and a fresh future.
The logo mainly uses black and white colors. But every school in the conference also gets its own special version using the school’s colors. This helps each team feel connected to the new Pac-12 brand.
The league’s description of the “12” in the logo means, “We are known as the Pac-12 and as it was at King Arthur’s table, any open seats are commitments, held deliberately, aimed with intention, ready for the next most worthy to step up and help carry the vision.”
So, with the all-new logo and mindset to tackle the money problem, the Pac-12 conference is all set to rule the new money era. The conference knows that investing heavily in roster, revenue sharing will cost them a fortune, and that’s exactly why they are up for a fresh start.
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