In a ‘bold, ambitious step,’ Big Ten grows to 16 with additions of USC, UCLA |
USC and UCLA are officially set to join the Big Ten Conference beginning with the 2024-25 season, marking perhaps the largest seismic and historic shift yet amid the ever-changing landscape of college athletics.
The shocking news played out publicly across roughly seven hours Thursday as the two flagship Pac-12 Conference schools went from being reportedly interested in changing leagues to each school and league officially acknowledging their future destinations by the end of business hours on the West Coast.
UCLA running back Zach Charbonnet (24) runs the ball in for a touchdown as Southern California defensive lineman Jacob Lichtenstein (97) tries to stop him during the second half of the team’s game in 2021.
The Big Ten’s Council of Presidents and Chancellors voted unanimously to accept the application of membership from each school Thursday evening. And while the news sent shockwaves through college sports, national reports indicated — and the Big Ten confirmed — the move had been in the works behind the scenes for weeks.
One source told The Athletic that each school was asked two weeks ago to conduct a feasibility study about adding USC and UCLA.
The feedback, evidently, was positive.
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Now the Big Ten joins the SEC as a 16-team league, only with a truly national footprint from Jersey Shore to Malibu Beach. The Los Angeles-based schools will bring along every sport that the Big Ten fields when they become full members Aug. 2, 2024.
“Ultimately, the Big Ten is the best home for USC and Trojan athletics as we move into the new world of collegiate sports,” USC athletic director Mike Bohn said in a release. “We are excited that our values align with the league’s member institutions.”
USC and UCLA reportedly approached the Big Ten with a desire to join and become the league’s first new schools since it added Rutgers and Maryland in 2014 and Nebraska in 2011 during the early stages of conference realignment. The move is also viewed as a response to the SEC landing Texas and Oklahoma out of the Big 12 Conference last summer and yet another step closer to the SEC and Big Ten separating themselves financially and in total membership from everyone else, including their other Power Five peers.
The additions are also likely why the Big Ten had yet to announce its plan to keep or do away with football divisions while other leagues including the Pac-12 and ACC have already scrapped them.
Meanwhile, the conference remains in the midst of negotiating its television rights deal with Fox and others, with previous estimates that it will net north of $1 billion in its next round of contracts. That figure is guaranteed to now rise further with the addition of another major media market in Los Angeles and two brand-name universities. Apple has already reached out asking to reengage in negotiations, according to a report from Sports Business Journal.
Such financial stability will be a boon for the newcomers. The LA Times in January reported that UCLA’s Athletic Department absorbed a loss of $62.5 million for the 2021 fiscal year.
“Although this move increases travel distances for teams, the resources offered by Big Ten membership may allow for more efficient transportation options,” UCLA Chancellor Gene Block and athletic director Martin Jarmond said in a statement.
The transition could in theory be relatively smooth for USC and UCLA because their grant of rights are linked to the current Pac-12 TV deal, which expires after the 2023-24 school year.
Multiple reports also indicated Big…
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