UCLA Will Have To Pay Cal $10 Million Per Year For Leaving Pac-12
UCLA is off to the Big Ten Conference, with its first college football season as a school in the Midwest somehow just a few months away.
The decision by the Bruins and USC Trojans to jump the sinking Pac-12 ship was the first in a series of choices that led to the functional end of the conference. While the rationale behind it made sense; UCLA is set to rake in millions of dollars of more revenue thanks to the Big Ten's larger television deal, there's now set to be a somewhat hidden consequence to the move.
UCLA will now have to pay Cal $10 million per year through 2029-2030, after a UC Board of Regents recommendation that was approved late Thursday evening.
This wasn't a complete surprise; UCLA had agreed to pay Cal some level of redistributed revenue as a condition of approval to leave Cal and the Pac-12. But the $10 million yearly fee is the very top end of what the school had agreed to. And it could get worse over time.
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UCLA Still Getting A Massive Financial Win Compared To Pac-12 Revenues
A report from the president of the UC system claims that the difference in income between UCLA's media distribution from the Big Ten is roughly $50 million per year compared to Cal's distribution from its new ACC home.
Given that disparity, it's not surprising that the regents chose to recommend UCLA pay the max amount to Cal each year. Still though, it must be tough for the UCLA athletic department to accept that it will be paying Cal $50-60 million over the next few years, just because Cal won't take in as much revenue from its new conference.
And it underscores just how good of a deal USC is getting, taking in massively increased revenue without having to share it with another school.
For UCLA though, the $10 million per year could actually get worse. The Regents recommended that if there's an adjustment to revenues for either school that results in a 10 percent increase or decrease from the current projections, they will reevaluate to see if UCLA should give even more money. Ouch.
Still, despite reduced expectations considering the move to a new conference under a new head coach and with an extremely difficult schedule, the Bruins are likely happy with their decision to leave. Getting out early and with USC meant they were able to secure a massive payday from the Big Ten. Even if they have to give some of it away.