The rebuilt Pac-12 secured its second major media partner Wednesday, announcing a five-year agreement with The CW to broadcast football and men’s and women’s basketball games beginning with the launch of the new conference next summer.
Financial terms were not disclosed, but the deal features 13 football games on The CW per season. When combined with the CBS agreement announced in June, the Pac-12 will have at least 17 football games on over-the-air TV annually, including the conference championship game.
That total matches the number of over-the-air telecasts for the previous version of the Pac-12 in the 2022 season and compares favorably to the 23 over-the-air broadcasts in 2023, the final year of the former conference.
The agreement with The CW was described by the Pac-12 as an “extension” of the current two-year partnership between the network and the conference, with Washington State and Oregon State as the only members.
Starting July 1, 2026, the Pac-12 will feature the two holdovers plus Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State, Texas State, Utah State and Gonzaga, which does not play football.
Pac-12 Enterprises, the conference’s media arm, is producing WSU and OSU football games for The CW during this transition phase and will handle production for 66 annual events on The CW in the new deal.
The agreement requires The CW to air 35 men’s basketball games, 15 women’s games and the semifinals and finals of the women’s tournament, in addition to the 13 football games.
All nine members of the new conference “participated in the decision” to extend the arrangement with The CW, according to the Pac-12.
“Our partnership with The CW has been one of mutual growth and transformation, from the development of our Pac-12 Enterprises’ broadcast production business to the significant added value and positive impact to our current and future members via true national reach across 100 percent of U.S. television households,” Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould said in a news release.
The Pac-12 is expected to sign at least one, and perhaps two more media rights agreements in the coming weeks.
After all, there are more football games to sell.
At this point, 26 regular-season games controlled by the Pac-12 (i.e., home games) have been accounted for:
— The CW will show 13, a total meant to allow for one telecast per week (although The CW would have the discretion to show two in a single week if desired).
— CBS and the CBS Sports Network will combine to show 13, as well, with at least three on CBS and a maximum of 10 on CBSSN.
The amount of additional football inventory available — perhaps 12 to 15 home games annually — depends on whether the Pac-12 adds more schools and how the schedule is configured: Teams could play either seven or eight conference games.
That decision, in turn, will impact the number of non-conference games controlled by the schools and, subsequently, the total number of home games per season available for the Pac-12’s media partners.
The Pac-12 gave no indication for the timing of additional deals, noting: “Further media rights partnerships for the new Pac-12 will be announced following finalized agreements.”
Warner Bros. Discovery (e.g., TNT and TBS) and ESPN are candidates to purchase inventory unclaimed by CBS and The CW.
“The Pac-12 has been a key partner in the success of CW Sports, and we are thrilled to solidify our relationship with the conference for an additional five years,” network president Brad Schwartz said in the announcement.
“We have experienced firsthand the passion of the Oregon State and Washington State football programs and their dedicated fans and we are eager to introduce an additional seven schools in the new Pac-12 to our nationwide CW Sports audience.”
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