Pac-12 accelerates negotiations for media rights deals in wake of UCLA, USC exits

SAN FRANCISCO — The Pac-12 is pushing up negotiations for its next media rights agreements in the wake of the decision by UCLA and USC to leave for the Big Ten.

The Pac-12 announced that its board of directors authorized negotiations after a meeting Tuesday morning.

The conference's current media rights deal expires in 2024, but the Pac-12 accelerated the timeline for negotiations for the next one with two of its marquee programs headed out the door.

UCLA and USC announced Thursday that they are leaving the conference for the Big Ten in 2024, knocking the Pac-12 out of the nation's second-largest media market.

The Pac-12 already had the lowest distribution number among Power Five schools, paying its member institutions $19.8 million in 2021, and losing the two Southern California schools would likely drop that number.