WSU and OSU agree on $65 million payout with 10 former Pac-12 members
By Thomas Clouse, Spokane S-R 3/25/2024
After two major legal victories gave them control over what was left of the Pac-12 Conference, Washington State and Oregon State both announced Monday that they have come to an agreement with the 10 departing schools about how to distribute the remaining revenues.
As
part of the deal, the departing schools, which include Washington, Oregon, UCLA
and USC, which all are joining the Big10 Conference; Arizona, Arizona State,
Utah, and Colorado, which are joining the Big 12 Conference and Stanford and
California, which are joining the Atlantic Coast Conference, agreed to give up
a total of $5 million each during the remainder of the 2024 fiscal year.
Those
departing schools will also pay $1.5 million in a “supplemental contribution”
to the conference that can be used by WSU and OSU to navigate an uncertain
future.
“We
are pleased to have reached a fair and equitable settlement with the 10
departing schools that will set the Pac-12 Conference on a path toward future
success. With this issue resolved, we can focus on ensuring that OSU and WSU
student-athletes continue to compete at the highest levels of college sports,”
OSU president Jayathi Murthy and WSU president Kirk Schulz wrote in a joint
statement posted on social media.
The
statement did not explain how OSU and WSU would use that potential pool of $65
million that otherwise would have been disbursed to the 10 departing schools.
Schulz,
through a spokesman, did not return a message seeking comment.
Likewise,
Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould did not respond to an interview request.
“Teresa
and the conference are not discussing the settlement other than to confirm that
it is complete and we look forward to finishing a successful academic year with
all 12 institutions and moving forward with Oregon State and Washington
State next year,” Pac-12 spokesman Erik Hardenbergh said in an email.
Like
Murthy and Schulz, the departing schools also issued a joint statement about
the settlement, which was agreed to in principle late last year.
“We
are pleased to finalize an agreement with OSU and WSU that provides support for
all our student-athletes while ensuring an equal distribution of the vast
majority of funds earned by all 12 schools during the 2023-24 academic year,”
the 10 schools who are leaving said in a statement.
“Under
this agreement, our schools will have the right to vote on matters that affect
all 12 schools this year, while OSU and WSU will have control over future
Conference revenue and decisions.”
The
settlement ends the ugly breakup of a conference that started on June 30, 2022,
when officials from the University of Southern California and UCLA announced
that those schools would be leaving the Pac-12 for the Big Ten.
“The
announcement came as a shock,” attorneys for WSU and OSU wrote, “neither school
had shown any sign they were contemplating leaving the Pac-12.”
The
conference board then met at least 20 times without representatives from either
of those schools attending. Then Colorado announced on July 27 its intention to
join the Big 12 Conference.
Colorado
officials were informed that their representation on the Pac-12 board
automatically ceased, according to court records.
On
Aug. 4, just moments before the conference could announce a media-rights deal
with Apple TV, Washington and Oregon announced they, too, were jointing the Big
Ten.
Arizona,
Arizona State and Utah all then announced their decisions to join the Big 12.
At
that point, Pac 12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff texted a reporter: “As of
today we have 4 board members,” court records state.
But
the bleeding hadn’t finished.
On
Sept. 1, Stanford and California announced their decisions to join the Atlantic
Coast Conference.
Then on Nov. 14, Whitman County
Superior Court Judge Gary Libey ruled in favor of WSU and OSU’s
effort to control what was remaining of the conference. That ruling was delayed
but affirmed in December by the
Washington Supreme Court.
The
settlement announced Monday represented the final settlement of both sides
agreeing how to distribute the revenues for 2024 before the departing schools
leave for other conferences.
