Let’s be real. The names of most college athletic conferences are bordering on laughable. They were once named to signify regional alliances and traditional rivalries that made sense for the most part. Now they don’t.
The Big 12 Conference will, so far, include 16 teams in 2024. The Big 10, once a collection of Midwest powers, is forecast to have 18 schools in 2024 and extends from New Jersey to California. The Pac-12 has just four schools committed for next season after being raided by the Big 12 and Big 10.
The Southeastern Conference includes schools from Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas, and the Western Athletic Conference, formerly a league of southwest colleges, now includes Seattle University.
So let’s dispense with the pretense. As money-hungry as these conferences have shown themselves to be in recent weeks, they might as well sell naming rights to a title sponsor much the way naming rights are sold for stadiums and arenas.
Crypto.com in 2021 agreed to pay $700 million over 20 years to rename Staples Center in Los Angeles. SoFi Stadium has a $625 million naming rights deal over 20 years. And Intuit Dome under construction near SoFi Stadium, has a $500 million agreement for 23 years.
Selling naming rights for college athletic conferences
Naming rights can be applied to just about anything these days: stadiums, arenas, basketball courts, programs, events, and public transportation stations. Why not college athletic conferences?
Let’s explore the possibilities: The Pac-12 Conference or whatever it’s going to be called should sell its naming rights to Apple TV. That would generate added income to their partnership in a media rights deal that isn’t measuring up to the money other conferences are offering, which is why Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah recently bolted to the Big 12.
Arizona president Robert Robbins called the Pac-12’s last-ditch proposal to stay in the league like “selling candy bars” and “Girl Scout Cookies.” Ouch! A naming-right deal, whether it’s with Apple or Walmart, could be a way for the Pac-12 to have more financial firepower.
The Big 12 Conference, a merger between the Big 8 Conference and Southwest Conference in 1994, has no regional distinction with members schools in Florida, Iowa, Texas, West Virginia, Arizona, Colorado, and Utah. Instead of the Big 16 next year the league should do a naming rights deal and get paid for confusing everyone. The Amazon.com Conference makes as much sense.
The Big 10 could benefit from its Midwest roots by doing a naming rights agreement to become the General Motors Conference. And while the Southeastern Conference might not want to lose its iconic name value, it could become the Shake Shack SEC, if the money is good enough.
Smaller conferences would be happy to get in on the action, too. I’m sure the Big Sky, the Big South, Conference USA, and the Mid-American Conference can all be bought for the right price.
While there have been no reports of collegiate athletic conferences seeking naming rights deals, don’t be surprised when it happens. All it takes is one. Conferences will have added cash to share with its member schools and use to entice new members. Corporations and businesses benefit by associating their brand with famous institutions, prominent teams, popular athletes, and marquee events.It’s a win-win waiting to happen and makes a lot more sense than renaming the Pac-12 the Pac-4.
George Willis is a columnist for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.