“The Big Ten Breakdown” is a column by Terence Holton about USC and UCLA’s decision to leave the Pac-12.
June 30, 2022. USC and UCLA shock the sports world, announcing they will be leaving the Pac-12 conference to join the Big Ten conference. This left many, including myself, bewildered as both USC and UCLA have been a part of the conference that eventually became Pac-12 since the 1920s. Both schools have rich traditions in the Pac-12 and in college sports being a part of this conference, so why did they decide to leave?
In 2021, the average Pac-12 team made just over 20 million dollars from its TV deal. The new Big Ten TV deal is reportedly worth over one billion dollars every year for the conference, and USC and UCLA are reportedly each making 100 million dollars annually from that deal. Even before the new TV deal, the Big Ten dominated the Pac-12 in revenue. According to the Los Angeles Times, the Big Ten raked in 768 million dollars during the 2019-20 season, compared to the Pac-12s measly 533 million dollars.
This frustration of not bringing in as much money as Big Ten bottom feeders such as Northwestern and Nebraska year in and year out is one of the reasons why the Trojans’ leadership made the bold move to join the Big Ten.
According to data compiled by 247 Sports’ Brad Crawford, USC was found to be the No. 18 most valuable college football program in the nation, ahead of national brands such as Wisconsin and Clemson. However, it is the teams that are ranked above USC that caught my eye. Teams such as Notre Dame and Tennessee both have storied pasts but have not won any notable bowl games since the early 2000s, much less a national championship.
What do these teams have in common and why are they more valuable than USC? Their TV deals and who they play. Notre Dame has the entirety of NBC wrapped up with all Notre Dame home games being broadcasted solely by NBC, an easy cash grab for the Irish. Notre Dame is also independent, a team without a conference, so it can schedule whoever it wants. This year the Fighting Irish play Clemson, BYU and Ohio State as well as USC. Tennessee plays in the vaunted SEC. When ESPN pays to broadcast Alabama, Georgia and LSU, the company is also paying for Tennessee and Vanderbilt. They make a whole lot of money by playing in the football factory that is the SEC.
To bring it all together, with USC moving to the Big Ten it gets a much better TV deal than the Pac-12. With the new Big Ten TV deal, it fiscally makes more sense.
Joining the Big Ten also brings in a plethora of new opponents. The past few years the Pac-12 has been a bit of a cupcake as far as scheduling goes. A game such as a Saturday night showdown between USC and Ohio State at the Coliseum would have fans across the country yearning for more.
During the 2022 Rose Bowl between Ohio State and Utah, Ohio State fans flocked to Pasadena for the game. In the Big Ten, filled with almost all Midwestern teams, fans will flaunt the excuse to go to games in Los Angeles especially if their team is taking on a top-10 USC team. This will lead to a growth in ticket sales among other things and overall enjoyment of games at the Coliseum for students and fans at large. In addition to football, we could see Basketball matchups such as USC vs. Michigan State or Indiana in Galen Center. Unheard of matchups, yet games that big networks will be desperate to land.
USC and UCLA moving to the Big Ten may be one of the biggest moves in college sporting history, and it could be viewed as a cash grab. In reality though, it positively affects the players, fans and schools involved. A bigger market will allow players to make more money off NIL deals. New and better competition makes it more enjoyable for the fans. And this new pot of gold from joining the Big Ten will benefit the athletic departments and underrepresented sports. Nothing but positives.
But does the rest of the Pac-12 feel the same way?
“The Big Ten Breakdown” runs every other Tuesday.