Due to schools like USC, UCLA, and Colorado leaving the Pac-12 for greener pastures, Oregon State and Washington State expect to take massive revenue losses in upcoming years.
For 108 years, the Pac-12 has been the home of the best college athletics on the West Coast — and in many seasons the top teams in the entire country. Universities like USC and UCLA brought national prestige to the conference as it became one of the legendary Power Five Conferences in the NCAA.
However, that impressive legacy is on the brink of extinction. When USC and UCLA decided to leave the conference in 2022, few realized that might be the beginning of the end for the Pac-12. Since that announcement, eight other schools, including Colorado, Utah, and Arizona have made agreements to join the Big-10 and Big-12 in 2024.
The only schools that did not take their brands elsewhere are Oregon State and Washington State. The two teams filed an injunction a few months back to block the exiting schools from making any more key decisions involving the league as they attempt to save the Pac-12 from dissolving.
It is unclear if the two schools will be able to save the conference or how long it will take to get the eight new schools necessary to continue on. However, in the short term, OSU and WSU stand to lose a lot with the Pac-12 being on life support heading into next year.
Oregon State to lose $41 million in revenue due to Pac-12 collapse
On Friday, Oregon State President Dr. Jayathi Murthy spoke with NPR about the ongoing situation. During the conversation, they spoke about the shocking reveal in Murthy’s recent letter to the campus community that the school could lose as much as $41 million — or 44% — of revenue from athletics in the next few years.
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“So we’re looking for a number of different revenue pathways,” Murthy said when talking about how they plan to make up the losses. “Some of it will be from our own internal resources. There’s a huge surge in philanthropy because people like that we’re fighting for our students. We’ve been having deep discussions with our legislature to see if they can support us. I will mention that every one of our home games has been an absolute sellout this year.”
While the Oregon State President said the losses won’t put school staff in danger of losing their jobs, it will have a major effect on some other sports the revenue helps to fund.
“Our media rights and football revenues fund so much else,” she said. “Some of the most important things they fund are women’s athletics – right? – and our support of Title IX. And they support Olympic sports. These are non-revenue-generating sports.”