BLOG — Dec 02, 2024
Power conferences dominate NCAA media landscape
By Michael Johnson
- The landscape of U.S. college sports has shifted dramatically, with power conferences consolidating into four major leagues. The Big Ten and SEC have emerged as the premier conferences, bolstered by lucrative media deals. The Big Ten's recent agreement, valued at over $8 billion for seven years, marks the largest in college sports history, while the SEC's new $3 billion deal with ESPN enhances its media dominance.
- The Big 12 is expanding with new additions and a forthcoming $2.3 billion extension, while the ACC is navigating changes with new members amid concerns about future earnings. The Pac-12 also faces ongoing uncertainty after losing ten members prior to the 2024-25.
- Overall, power conferences generated over $3.5 billion in revenue for the fiscal year ending August 2023, with per-school payouts led by the Big Ten at $60.5 million.
The landscape of US college sports underwent a large shift earlier this summer as the number of power conferences shrunk to four with the Pac-12 being reduced to two schools and an uncertain future. The Big Ten and SEC, bolstered by new additions, have emerged as the NCAA's premier leagues, wielding colossal media deals. The Big 12 is following suit with the addition of four schools and a substantial upcoming media deal extension, while the ACC is also embracing three new programs. This realignment frenzy underscores the increasingly commercial nature of college sports, driven by the contractual timing of the new broadcast deals and significant media revenues.
The Big Ten's new media rights deal with Fox Corp., Paramount Global and NBCUniversal LLC kicked off last season, marking the end of the 40-plus-year relationship with ESPN. The current agreement is valued at more than $8 billion over seven years, the largest media rights deal for a college conference in history. The previous six-year deal between Fox, ESPN (US), CBS (US) and the Big Ten was valued at $440 million per year, while the current deal provides the conference with an estimated $1.15 billion annually. The Big Ten added four schools to the conference for the 2024–25 season as Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington move from the Pac-12.
The SEC
The SEC's new media agreement with ESPN begins this season, ending the iconic SEC on CBS afternoon football tradition. The current ESPN deal extends 10 years and is valued at approximately $3 billion, and as part of the agreement, viewers can expect a lineup of approximately 15 football games and eight men's basketball games each year. The deal supersedes the previous arrangement with CBS, which was valued at around $55 million annually. The SEC also has a more extensive partnership with ESPN that originated from the launch of the SEC Network (US), which has been extended until 2034 and further solidifies the collaboration between the two entities. As a result of these combined efforts, the SEC is projected to become the second-highest paid conference, generating $710 million in media rights annually.
Texas and Oklahoma are set to debut in the SEC this season as they depart from the Big 12 conference.
The Big 12
The Big 12 is entering the final year of a 13-year, $2.6 billion media rights deal with Fox and ESPN. The deal is set to expire in 2025 before the upcoming six-year, $2.3 billion extension agreement begins and runs through at least the 2030–31 season. The average annual payout of $380 million in the new deal represents a substantial increase compared to the current deal, which amounts to $200 million per year.
The Big 12 added Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah to the conference this season following the departure of the powerhouse programs, Texas and Oklahoma. The University of Texas at Austin's Longhorn Network (US), which was launched in 2011, officially went off-air this summer following the move to the SEC.
The ACC
The ACC is in the midst of a 20-year, $4.8 billion media rights agreement with ESPN, lasting until 2036. The current deal coincided with the launch of the ACC Network (US) and is by far the longest agreement among the four power conferences, which when signed in 2016 seemed advantageous, providing members a stable multimillion-dollar source of income for two decades. However, with three schools joining the conference this summer (Cal, Stanford and SMU), some members believe they could secure greater earnings elsewhere. While Clemson remains committed, Florida State has made clear its intentions to leave the ACC before the current media deal expires in 12 years, creating uncertainty for the conference's future as it strives to maintain unity.
The Pac 12
Following the departure of 10 schools for other power conferences prior to this season, the Pac-12 was left with Oregon State and Washington State. The conference is operating with a new commissioner at the helm and a restructured production entity, Pac-12 Enterprises LLC. The conference's previous 12-year, $3 billion media contract with Fox and ESPN expired this year, and it has since secured a modest new football media deal with The CW (US) and Fox Sports. The conference has also partnered with the Mountain West for football scheduling this season, while also establishing an affiliate membership with the West Coast Conference for other sports.
In recent news, it was announced that Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State and San Diego State will leave the Mountain West Conference to join Oregon State and Washington State in the Pac-12 prior to the 2026-27 academic year.
Total revenues reach unprecedented levels
Thanks to the valuable media rights deals, the power conferences brought in more than $3.5 billion in combined revenue in the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2023. This has risen from $965 million in 2011 with every conference seeing an increase in fiscal year 2023 versus 2022. These figures will change radically in 2024 as conference realignment and new media deals start to take effect.
Regarding per-school payouts, the Big Ten leads all conferences in the fiscal year 2023 with an average payout of $60.5 million per school, representing a nearly 3% increase compared to those in fiscal year 2022. The ACC jumped over 13% to $44.8 million per school in 2023, compared to $39.4 million in fiscal year 2022, the highest percentage increase among the power conferences. However, the addition of three programs this year could diminish average payouts per school within the conference moving forward.
