ESPN insider on USC, UCLA potentially leaving Pac-12: 'This was an easy one to predict'

On3 imageby:Nick Schultz06/30/22

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For many around college sports, the report that USC and UCLA were potentially leaving the Pac-12 for the Big Ten was shocking. But ESPN’s Pete Thamel might not have been as shocked — and for an interesting reason.

Thamel said one important part of conference realignment are leagues’ grants of rights. A grant of rights ties directly into media rights and grant those rights to the conference instead of the individual schools. The Pac-12 grant of rights is about to expire, and USC and UCLA didn’t move to extend the agreement. That, Thamel said, raised some red flags.

“This was an easy one to predict in a lot of ways,” Thamel said on The Paul Finebaum Show. “USC and UCLA are going to pay no financial penalty to leave the Pac-12. They’re going to fulfill their contract and they’re going to fulfill their grant of rights. … One of the hints in the Pac-12 that this was going to happen was that the grant of rights were expiring and there had been no movement by USC or UCLA to sign onto a longer grant of rights.

“It would be easy to point to the ACC. The issue there is they have grant of rights through the length of their TV deal, which I believe is through 2036. If it’s not ‘36, it’s ‘34, but it’s well into the 2030s, and I’ve said many times publicly, it is cement shoes on the league. It is a terrible deal from the ACC perspective. It would essentially have Clemson making half as much money as South Carolina in the near future within the end of the decade in terms of TV revenue.”

Pete Thamel on what the USC, UCLA decision means for the ACC

Thamel said the ACC is in an interesting position because of the league’s current media rights deal. In the wake of the USC and UCLA news, the league might have some decisions to make.

“I think we see one of two things,” Thamel said. “I think we see some sort of breakaway, which could cost upwards of $100 million for the blue bloods of that league to go find greener pastures because of exit fees and because of grant of rights. Or the ACC scrambles and gets creative and does some sort of unequal revenue sharing where if you win ‘X’ games and such, it basically makes sure that Syracuse doesn’t make the same amount as Clemson even though Clemson’s obviously carrying the weight in football.

“But again … unequal revenue sharing means unequal leagues and that’s how the Big 12 fell apart 20 years ago. So is that solution a band-aid? I think today’s a very bad day in the ACC offices and I think there’s a huge black cloud of concern now that’s going to hover over that league.”