The Bruins and Trojans will be joining the Big Ten as full members with an even revenue split when they leave the Pac-12 in 2024.
The two teams making the most headlines at Big Ten Football Media Day aren’t even in the conference.
At least, not yet.
Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren fielded plenty of questions Tuesday morning in Indianapolis, touching on a laundry list of topics from playoff expansion to NIL legislation, but conference realignment stole most of the spotlight. UCLA and USC’s upcoming move from the Pac-12 to the Big Ten has dominated the college football conversation over the past month, and Warren said it had been in the works long before the news broke at the end of June.
“I’ve spent a lot of time – even before I came to the Big Ten, once I accepted the job in the Big Ten and even these last couple years – always analyzing each and every school,” Warren said. “A lot of the work we’ve done on any expansion, potential expansion, we’ve done it multiple years ago. We’re always in a perpetual state of analyzing the goodness of fit for any institutions that would come into the Big Ten Conference.”
Warren said that the goal was not to expand for expansion’s sake, but rather to bolster the value of the conference as a whole and grow each and every student-athletes’ platform.
The ability to add the alma mater of Steven Spielberg, Jackie Robinson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and countless Nobel Laureates wasn’t exactly a turn off either.
“We were very pleased with our 14 existing Big Ten institutions, but we are incredibly excited to welcome two new members in 2024 to the Big Ten Conference,” Warren said. “These are two incredible academic and athletic institutions in a strong location in Los Angeles with great, rich history and tradition, who are innovative, who are forward-thinking, who are bold, who will make us even stronger as a conference.”
Perhaps the most important nugget Warren dropped Tuesday was that UCLA and USC would be full members with a full and even revenue share the second they join the Big Ten, something Nebraska, Maryland and Rutgers did not receive when they arrived in 2014.
“We think that’s important for various reasons,” Warren said. “(UCLA and USC) bring a lot of value to our relationship, they bring a lot of panache to our relationship and we look forward to do welcoming them into the Big Ten family in 2024.”
Based on multiple reports and projections, that means UCLA could earn upwards of $100 million annually in conference payouts – roughly three times what they were making in the Pac-12.
Warren did not have any exact figures to provide on Tuesday, considering negotiations with media partners are still ongoing, but he said he trusts that the financials will works themselves out.
“The numbers and the finances associated with it are typically the last thing that I consider and analyze,” Warren said. “It’s important for me, from a business standpoint, but from a decision making process standpoint, always look at all the other reasons why. Because if all the other reasons make sense, the finances will take care of themselves.”
One of the drawbacks many have tried to point out is the increased travel distances and potentially messy scheduling – not only in football, but in other sports as well.
Long flights are unavoidable for a conference that will span from Los Angeles to New Jersey, after all.
Warren cited Northwestern and Nebraska’s upcoming matchup in Ireland as an example of how new destinations can help student-athletes experience new cultures, rather than place additional strains on them. As for the specifics of how UCLA and USC’s arrival will work in practice, Warren said he has activated a Big Ten readiness committee and student-athlete advisory committee to hash out all the details.
“I look at it not as a negative, I look at it as a positive from an academic standpoint,” Warren said. “And what we will do is we’ll work through these next two years from a scheduling component to make sure that we create the environment that’s most healthy and holistic for our student-athletes.”
Running a conference that stretches from coast-to-cast has some more tangible advantages as well, with the Big Ten now set to operate in all four contiguous time zones.
Warren spoke at length about how that can help the Big Ten deliver content to a global alumni base in a move that benefits fans from age 5 to 105.
“I think sometimes, later time zones on the West Coast, people looked at it as a negative, and I always looked at it as a positive,” Warren said. “Now we’ll be able to provide content all the way from the morning into the night and lead into some really incredible programming.”
Every Big Ten coach who took the stage Tuesday – from Minnesota’s PJ Fleck to Nebraska’s Scott Frost – had nothing but good things to say about UCLA, Chip Kelly and the opportunity to play games in Los Angeles.
The latest push of conference expansion didn’t come from the coaches, though, but rather the media conglomerates, athletic directors, presidents and administrators working behind the scenes.
The moment the expansion news broke in late June, there were reports and speculation about the next dominos to fall, whether they be Notre Dame, Oregon, Stanford or North Carolina.
Warren has heard those questions and comments loud and clear. He admitted that there is a strong possibility of further expansion, but also said it will be well thought out and prioritize student-athletes’ overall well-being.
“Regarding expansion, I get asked every single day “What’s next?,” Warren said. “It may include future expansion, but it will be done for the right reasons at the right time with our student-athletes’ academic and athletic empowerment at the center of any and all decisions.”
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