The Pac-12 on Friday disclosed its tax filings for the 2024-25 fiscal year, offering a look at the unprecedented financial state of the conference during the transition period with Washington State and Oregon State as the sole members.
The Cougars and Beavers took home $29.2 million and $29.3 million, respectively, in distributions — a decrease of approximately $6 million from the average amount they received in the years immediately preceding the conference’s implosion.
Not surprisingly, total revenue for the conference plunged: from $566.6 million in the final year of the legacy Pac-12 to $111.5 million with Washington State and Oregon State existing alone with a meager media rights agreement.
The financial report for 2025-26, the second year of the transition period, will be made public next spring and is expected to show similar results.
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On July 1, the Pac-12 will return as a fully-functioning competitive entity with Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, Gonzaga, San Diego State and Utah State joining the Cougars and Beavers.
The fiscal state of the rebuilt conference, including revenue from the new media rights deal with CBS, The CW and USA Network, won't be known until the FY2027 tax filings are available in the spring of 2028.
Other highlights from the current filings:
– The Pac-12 began the 2024-25 fiscal year with $128 million in net assets and ended with $65.8 million, including $22.9 million in cash.
– The conference generated $74.4 million from the college football postseason. The majority (believed to be $50 million) came from the Pac-12's contract with the Rose Bowl that expired this year.
On July 1, the Pac-12 will return as a fully-functioning competitive entity with Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, Gonzaga, San Diego State and Utah State joining Washington State and Oregon State.
(Note: The 2026 season marks the beginning of a new TV contract for the College Football Playoff, with ESPN reportedly paying $1.3 billion annually. Each school in the new Pac-12 is expected to receive $1.8 million, plus whatever is earned through participation in the event.)
– The media rights arrangement with The CW (11 games) and Fox (two) produced $3 million. That figure should increase next year, to more than $50 million annually, with the start of the new contract cycle.
– Pac-12 Enterprises produced $4.4 million in revenue in its first year operating as a business-to-business entity, according to the conference.
In addition to producing events for Washington State and Oregon State, the conference's wholly-owned unit handled production for The CW's college football coverage and various other events, including a Golden State Warriors exhibition game.
– The Pac-12 spent $31.6 million on what it described as special projects (e.g., setting up the new conference) and reported $133.2 million in operating expenses.
– The conference paid $10.5 million to the Mountain West for a one-year scheduling agreement that became the source of an ongoing lawsuit over the so-called "poaching penalty" included in the deal.
– Commissioner Teresa Gould, who took charge in March 2024 after serving as deputy commissioner, was paid $1.5 million in salary. (Compensation figures are reported on a calendar-year basis.)
– Former commissioner George Kliavkoff took home $6.1 million, of which $5 million was listed as severance. He parted ways with the conference at the end of February 2024.
Over the course of his tenure, Kliavkoff was paid $15.6 million, according to compensation data listed on Pac-12 tax filings spanning his 3.5-year tenure.
Add that to the total collected by his predecessor, Larry Scott, who led the Pac-12 for more than a decade, and the legacy schools paid roughly $65 million in salary to the two commissioners who drove the conference into the abyss.
