Arizona State has officially applied for membership into the Big 12 with the conference accepting the Sun Devils unanimously
TEMPE, Ariz. – Arizona State has officially joined the Big 12 Conference according to ESPN College Football Senior Writer Pete Thamel following a meeting from presidents and chancellors Friday night.
With the Big 12 presidents and chancellors meeting to discuss further expansion, the committee has unanimously accepted Arizona State. The news comes hours after the University of Arizona’s bid for formal membership into the now 15-team conference for 2024 was accepted Friday morning. The University of Utah was also accepted for formal admittance into the conference, joining Arizona and Arizona State in a three school package away from the wilting Pac-12 Conference.
Sources: The Big 12’s presidents and chancellors voted unanimously Friday night to admit Arizona State and Utah. They did the same last night for Arizona. All three at on the way, pending a Board of Trustees vote in Utah to formalize their move.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) August 5, 2023
An official deal is to be expected in the coming hours and a decision is expected to be made shortly after a meeting between the board of trustees Friday night.
Arizona State, Arizona and Utah are projected to earn a cut of the new Big 12’s six-year Grant of Rights deal with ESPN and FOX valued at $2.3 billion, according to sources.
Once the Grant of Rights hits the Big 12 in 2025, Arizona State is projected to collect about $42 million in revenue sharing alone. In all, the Sun Devils could receive up to $50 million annually excluding other league revenue such as the College Football Playoffs.
Also included in Friday’s Pac-12 departure was the University of Washington and the University of Oregon officially joining the Big Ten Conference. As of Thursday night, a deal was reportedly unlikely to take place between the two Pacific Northwest schools until early Friday morning when the Ducks and Huskies decided to apply. According to reports, the Big Ten unanimously accepted the bids from both schools, now giving the Big Ten 18 teams and the largest collegiate athletic conference in the country with USC and UCLA bids accepted nearly a year ago.
Zac BonDurant
After being unable to secure a media rights deal for nearly 13 months, the Pac-12 Conference has been in jeopardy ever since the two Los Angeles schools left, leaving a significant deficit of the financial opportunities for the conference to move forward and certainly to keep up with the conference expansion taking place elsewhere. Because of the instability of the conference, along with the uncertainty of a new media rights deal for 2025, the Pac-12 now remains at just four teams.