After three University of California Regents meetings, including a delayed vote last month, UCLA’s move to the Big Ten Conference was approved Wednesday after an 11-5 vote.
The official move to step aside comes nearly six full months after UCLA and USC announced they would leave the Pac-12 and join an expanded 16-team Big Ten in August 2024.
“We are excited to join the Big Ten Conference in 2024 and are grateful for the Board of Regents’ thoughtful engagement in this decision,” UCLA athletic director Martin Jarmond said in a statement shortly after the decision. “We’ve always been guided by what is best for our 25 teams and more than 700 student-athletes, and the Big Ten offers exciting new competitive opportunities on a bigger national media platform for our student-athletes to compete and showcase their talent.”
While USC, a private institution, did not need approval, UCLA did not flee without hassle — and a tax.
The Regents first held a meeting in mid-August on the UCLA campus, directly across from the football practice facility, with Jarmond and chancellor Gene Block among those in attendance. The group discussed concerns, such as the financial impact to UC Berkeley and the student-athletes’ well-being with regular added travel to Big Ten campuses located in the central and eastern time zones.
As part of the open session, the Regents also discussed the ability to retain authority and potentially block UCLA’s move.
A day later, the Big Ten announced a mega media rights deal worth $7 billion with gradual increases, with the conference’s institutions expected to share more than $1 billion annually.
In September, in a letter first obtained by the New York Times, Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff wrote to the Regents, urging the governing body to force UCLA to remain in the league.
The Regents re-convened in San Diego in November but delayed the vote.
Along the way, UCLA’s move also was blasted by California Gov. Gavin Newsom, an ex officio Regent, for the lack of transparency from the school.
After the final meeting, the Regents “directed UCLA to dedicate additional resources from conference-associated revenues to support UC student-athletes as a condition for joining the Big Ten Conference,” according to a statement released by the UC office of president Michael Drake.
UCLA will establish a $2.5 million reserve fund with the UC office of the president no later than July 1, 2024. The funds will be used if mitigation measures are proven to be insufficient, and the reserve fund will remain in place until either June 30, 2026 or until UCLA ends its membership with the Big Ten.
At a future meeting, after the Pac-12 finalizes its next media rights deal, Drake and the Regents will recommend an additional fee in the range of $2 million to $10 million to go to Cal.
“In addition, under the terms of the action taken today, UCLA was also directed to provide expanded resources from their conference revenues to support student-athletes at UC Berkeley throughout this transition,” the statement from Drake read. “This additional support will help our student athletes thrive in the classroom, in their communities, and on the playing field. Today’s action reflects the extensive input of the UC community and the University’s deep commitment to supporting our student-athletes as scholars and as competitors, now and in the future.”
As for other conditions, UCLA also must: mitigate travel impacts with an annual plan that takes into account sleep, mental health, and physiology of its coaches and student-athletes; increase budgeted academic, nutritional and mental health support for student-athletes; provide appropriate accommodations and access to remote courses and online materials to student-athletes; and conduct an annual survey of student-athletes to ensure the steps taken are sufficient; establish a reserve fund.
