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When Pac-12 member schools set a meeting for last Friday morning, there was hope that all parties could come together and reach an agreement to save the conference.
Oregon and Washington never gave them the chance.
Justin Williams, Nicole Auerbach, Scott Dochterman and Max Olson of The Athletic reported Oregon and Washington “blindsided” Pac-12 members by informing them of their intention to leave for the Big Ten just “minutes” before the meeting was set to begin.
“We were all expecting, Friday morning, we were showing up together to sign in blood our grant of rights over to the Pac-12 Conference,” Arizona president Robert Robbins said.
Instead, Oregon and Washington received a formal offer from the Big Ten that proved too enticing to pass up. The Big Ten offered significant guarantees in terms of television revenue, along with long-term projections for the financial rewards available once they become full members.
Oregon and Washington will earn about half of what current Big Ten members receive until they become full members in 2030. That fractional number alone from the richest conference in the nation was more than what the Pac-12 would be able to offer given the uncertainty in its media rights. The Pac-12’s lone substantial media rights offer came from Apple, which included a tiered payout structure tied to subscriptions.
“We were trying to think, well, it’s going to be like selling candy bars for Little League or Girl Scout cookies,” Robbins said. “You gotta convince 3 (million) to 5 million people every year to sign up for $100 a year to watch a streaming-only app.”
While Robbins said Arizona had been planning to keep the Pac-12 together, the school’s actions behind the scenes said otherwise. Arizona requested and was granted entry to the Big 12 on Wednesday, two days before the fateful Friday meeting.
The aggressive pursuit of a Big 12 move created tension between Arizona and Arizona State, which share a Board of Regents. Arizona State president Michael Crow pushed back heavily on any potential move to the Big 12 during a special meeting Thursday.
“(Robbins) went into the board meeting, and all hell broke loose,” a source told The Athletic.
In the end, Crow wound up acknowledging leaving for the Big 12 was the best move once Oregon and Washington informed the remaining schools they were leaving.
The Pac-12 now has just four schools remaining (Stanford, Cal, Oregon State and Washington State) and is facing a likely dissolution barring a miraculous turnaround.
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