After days of rumors and fluctuating reports, including a brief moment Friday morning when the Pac-12 still had some final hope of staying together, Oregon made it official in the afternoon with a new release announcing its move to the Big Ten in 2024.
The Big Ten voted Friday to accept Oregon and Washington, effective Aug. 2, 2024, joining fellow current Pac-12 members USC and UCLA while moving the conference to 18 teams.
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“I’m thrilled that the University of Oregon has the opportunity to join the nation's preeminent academic-athletic conference,” said UO President Karl Scholz in a statement. “Our student-athletes will participate at the highest level of collegiate athletic competition, and our alumni, friends, and fans will be able to carry the spirit of Oregon across the country.
“The connections we will make with some of the leading research institutions in the world will provide new opportunities for our students, staff, faculty, and university stakeholders. The agreement we’ve reached with the Big 10 Conference will help ensure a bright future for the University of Oregon. We are grateful and look forward to a long, robust partnership.
Oregon athletic director Rob Mullens also issued a statement:
“Accepting membership into the Big 10 Conference is a transformational opportunity for the University of Oregon to change the short and long-term trajectory of our university and athletics department," Mullens said. "The stability and exposure of joining the Big 10 are of great benefit to the University of Oregon, and we are grateful to the Big 10 presidents for inviting us to join the conference. We look forward to the opportunity for our student-athletes to compete in this league, which includes many of the best programs in the nation in every sport.”
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Oregon held a 4 p.m. news conference with Scholz and Mullens to address the news.
Here were the key comments from the Oregon leaders ...
Mullen on the future of the rivalry with Oregon State ...
"Absolutely. Obviously, we have a rich tradition with our in-state competitors and that was something that we will try to work out in every sport to continue those rivalries"
Mullens on whether he'd commit to playing a home-and-home series with the Beavers in football ...
"As I said earlier, our goal would be to schedule Oregon State in every sport that's possible. Football scheduling can be complicated because of how far out it is. And, you know, the difficulty of playing non-conference games later in the year, but our goal would be absolutely to continue to play Oregon State."
Mullens on when the Ducks decided they couldn't carry on in the Pac-12 ...
"Yeah, obviously, we've been working, you know, over the last, you know, 13-14 months about getting a great understanding about ourselves, right, our TV ratings, our social media reach our demographics, to make sure that we understood ourselves and we're prepared for the changing landscape in college athletics. ... So we had a really strong sense of ourselves, understood everything about ourselves, so that we could make a good decision and we're proud to be here today and receive this invite and look forward to the future. ...
"Listen, all along we've done everything we could to find an opportunity forward with the Pac-12. And so we worked hard all along. And then I'd say over the last few days, obviously, the opportunity presented itself with the Big Ten and we appreciate that opportunity. And we appreciate our colleagues in the Pac-12. And so I would say in the last 24 hours is when it really, really intensified and wasn't done until early, early hours of the morning."
Scholz responding to the same question ...
"Of course, USC, UCLA left the conference a year or more ago, and then Colorado's departure, so it was not the Pac-10 -- it was the Pac-9 and so that's those are challenging times as landscape for major intercollegiate athletics is changing and it's conference realignment, name, image and likeness, it's the transfer portal. And all of those things make this a challenging, it's a challenging time. And so I think every institution or every university in the conference has been exploring and thinking about what next, how do we position ourselves to be as strong as we can going forward?"
Scholz on if he could confirm the partial revenue share is starting at $30 million and going up $1 million each year through 2029-30 ...
"So there are a variety, a number of revenue streams associated with this. There's the partial revenue share that that you mentioned. There are proceeds from the football championship series. And then there are other ancillary rights that we expect to control. And so the first part of the agreement we will be receiving partial shares. Those shares are commensurate, in fact are larger than media rights that we thought would be attainable through other mechanisms. And then we transition into being a full member over the 10 years of the deal. We anticipate averaging over $50 million just from direct media rights. One of the things I'm really proud about about the University of Oregon, is that tuition revenue does not end up supporting our remarkable athletic program. And we needed to continue to find opportunities to support the athletic program to keep that case so we can invest both in world class academics and world class athletics. We think this this deal provides that opportunity."
Mullens on the next steps of Oregon's 'bold vision,' as cited when announcing Dan Lanning's contract extension last week ...
"This is the next step of that bold vision and it sets us up for the future in this changing landscape, for sure. And, you know, in that changing landscape, there's a lot of elements. Obviously, the coach's contract was a big piece. This is a significant piece and the facility that you referenced is a big piece, as is making sure that we're providing all the support elements for our student-athlete in the modern game. And then also making sure that we are understanding NIL and that we are being progressive. We have one of the best facility infrastructures in all of college athletics to support the student athletes. So of course, that's an element. Autzen is a key piece for us. I mean, football generate 70% of the resources that support these 20 sports. And as you know that, North side does need some work, the South side's phenomenal. So, that has been on our radar for a long time and will continue to remain on our radar."
Mullens on whether there is any sadness about leaving the Pac-12 ...
"First, there's a lot of excitement, right? This is a tremendous opportunity for everyone in our department. But, of course, we've been long standing members of the Pac-8, Pac-10, Pac-12. It was the Pac-10 when I arrived and then the Pac 12 And we have a lot of friends in this league. And you know, these types of changes, do impact people and we have those deep relationships with those people. So sure. We are thinking about those people in this change as well."
Mullens on whether there is a commitment to charter travel for the athletic teams to Big Ten sites ...
"The student athlete experience is our highest priority and obviously travel is a piece of that. We don't have those details down to the fine point on charters at this point. Obviously, we know there's going to be some added travel costs, and we will solve for that. You know, in our conversations with the leadership at the Big Ten hey understand the importance of scheduling and I was very impressed with how thoughtful they are to this and the impact. So I'm confident we'll find a good solution to make sure we find the right balance for our student athletes."
