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Report: University of California Board of Regents to require UCLA to contribute $10 million annually to Cal

Grant Grubbsby:Grant Grubbs•05/09/24•

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Later this year, UCLA will be joining the Big Ten while California joins the ACC. UCLA is expected to rake in $50 million more in its media rights contract than California. However, the sister school reportedly plans to level the playing field.

“While universities and colleges are still in tumultuous times with an unsettled landscape in college athletics, there is some clarity on projected media rights revenues in the near term,” Jon Wilner wrote. “It is anticipated that there will be an approximately $50 million difference between UCLA’s Big Ten contract and UC Berkeley’s agreement with the ACC. As a result, the President is proposing that UCLA contribute $10 million a year to UC Berkeley, the top end of the range established by the Regents in December 2022.”

The schools’ regents agreed upon the maximum figure in 2022 when UCLA inked the deal to join the Big Ten, potentially jeopardizing California and its fellow Pac-12 members from a financial standpoint.

It didn’t take long for chaos to ensue the move. In 2023, fans witness the Pac-12 dissolve, leaving only Oregon State and Washington State without a new home conference. California reportedly plans to hold UCLA financially responsible to its previous agreement.

The regents posted the following executive summary on their website ahead of the May 14 meeting at UC Merced:

“While universities and colleges are still in tumultuous times with an unsettled landscape in college athletics, there is some clarity on projected media rights revenues in the near term,” the statement read. “It is anticipated that there will be an approximately $50 million difference between UCLA’s Big Ten contract and UC Berkeley’s agreement with the ACC. 

“As a result, the President is proposing that UCLA contribute $10 million a year to UC Berkeley, the top end of the range established by the Regents in December 2022.”

In his story, Wilner provided further details on the financial gap between UCLA and California.

“UCLA will be a full-share member of the Big Ten when it enters the conference on Aug. 2,” Wilner wrote. “The Bruins are expected to receive approximately $65 million, on average, for the six years of the Big Ten’s media rights deal with Fox, CBS and NBC.

“The $10 million contribution headed Berkeley comes in addition to the increased travel costs that accompany life in a conference brd in the Upper Midwest. UCLA has estimated that cost to be approximately $10 million more than it was spending on travel in the Pac-12.”