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UCLA athletic director releases statement after UC Board approves move to Big Ten

ns_headshot_2024-clearby:Nick Schultz•12/14/22•

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Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images

Wednesday night, the University of California Board of Regents approved UCLA’s move to the Big Ten in 2024 in an 11-5 vote. It’s the final hurdle for the Bruins before the move — and their athletic director released a statement celebrating the decision.

UCLA and USC are both planning to leave the Pac-12 for the Big Ten and the move was announced in July. After the board approved the plan, UCLA athletic director Martin Jarmond released a statement expressing his excitement for the Bruins’ future in the Big Ten.

“We’re excited to join the Big Ten Conference in 2024 and are grateful for the Board of Regents’ thoughtful engagement in this decision,” Jarmond stated. “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.”

UC Board of Regents approves UCLA decision to leave Pac-12 for Big Ten

The UC Board of Regents decided to sign off on UCLA’s decision to leave for the Big Ten after going into closed session, according to the Los Angeles Times’ Ben Bolch. That paves the way for the Bruins to join USC in the Big Ten as both teams leave the Pac-12 in 2024.

With the approval, UCLA will have to take some mitigation measures regarding travel and the well-being of its athletes, Bolch reported.

Questions rose about what the board would do particularly because of the amount of travel involved and the amount of money the university would spend. The National Collegiate Players Association was among the groups to voice those concerns about joining the Big Ten in a letter to the board last week.

“Like many other FBS colleges, UCLA does not have a revenue problem, it has a spending problem,” the NCPA wrote. “UCLA’s athletic budget deficit despite record high athletic revenues over the last 5 years reflects this. UCLA is fully capable to preserving all sports if it remains in the Pac-12.

“If the Regents are concerned that UCLA may cut sports if the Big Ten move is blocked, the Regents should block UCLA’s ability to cut sports instead of allowing UCLA to drag its entire athletic program to the other side of the country for games.”