UCLA and USC’s eventual move to the Big Ten will have a huge ripple effect on the Pac-12, but the conference isn’t completely convinced the Bruins will make the move.
Since UCLA is a public institution under the University of California system, the board of regents has the ability to overturn the move.
On Canzano & Wilner: The Podcast, Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff said he is open to the Bruins staying in the Pac-12. Additionally, Kliavkoff believes any money UCLA will get by joining the Big Ten will not make up for additional costs.
“We’ve done back-of-the-envelope calculations on the negative impact of UCLA expenses—travel expenses and coaching salaries and other things—just to get to the average Big Ten athletic budget,” Kliavkoff said, via ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg.
“We think that the incremental money they’re going to receive from the Big Ten media rights deal will be more than 100% offset by additional expenses. So you end up taking that money that you earn, and it goes to airline and charter companies and coaches and administrators. It doesn’t go to supporting the student-athletes.”
USC, on the other hand, is a private institution, so the University of California system has no say over its move. Kliavkoff added that any potential Pac-12 expansion will have to wait until after their new media rights deal is official.
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