Amid Pac-12 media deal rumors, Commish Teressa Gould spills beans on strategy to expand beyond the realms of football

The PAC-12 has been resurrected and will play its first season in its new form in 2026. Texas State is the most recent team to join the conference, giving them the eight spots required to be eligible for Bowl games and College Football Playoff spots.

This, alongside a strong media deal, may be enough to entice new programs to join the expanding conference. However, Commissioner Teresa Gould believes that the best way to help secure a long-term media deal is not limited to football.

“Basketball can play a huge role, particularly given not just the history and the competitive success that we’ve had, but the strengths of the brands. Like, when you walk in and you talk to these media rights partners, they are really, really excited about the basketball brands that we have."

College basketball is the second biggest revenue generator for colleges, with only football earning more. It would make sense for broadcasters to be interested in how well a conference stacks up on the gridiron and the court before any deals are made.

Currently, the majority of the teams that have committed to the conference are known more for their football program. This makes sense, as building up a strong football roster early ensures that teams can recruit with the knowledge that they can play in postseason games.

But Gould believes that basketball is the way forward for TV rights deals. So far, the PAC-12 has Gonzaga and San Diego State in its conference. These are two successful and popular west coast basketball programs, which Gould thinks can draw in as many viewers as the big football programs.

This will be music to the ears of TV executives. The prospects of having numerous strong football and basketball programs on their network should make the bidding process for any PAC-12 tv rights very competitive.

Who is in the PAC-12 next year?

As of writing (July 4), the following teams have announced that they will be joining the new PAC-12 next season:

Colorado State
Fresno State
Gonzaga
San Diego State
Texas State
Utah State

These all come from the smaller "Group of Five" conference, bar Gonzaga, who is from the WCC. They will join preexisting long-term members Washington State and Oregon State.

As for any future expansion, one should expect any future moves to this conference to be strong basketball schools.

About the author

Ben Tredinnick is a journalist who covers college football and college basketball at Sportskeeda who is currently studying for a masters in Data Science. His degree in Psychology has helped him gain an in-depth understanding of the minds of coaches.

Ben has been involved in sports writing since 2022 and covered the NFL previously. His strengths include providing in-depth profiles of athletes and coaches, with a particular focus on development, and looking at which teams could be in the hunt for today's college stars.

Ben enjoys following college sports more than the NBA or NFL because there is more variation in terms of playstyles. The tournaments are often more competitive than the major leagues, and due to the constant turnover of players, there are rarely any "superteams" in college sports.

He prioritizes research, looks at multiple sources and publications to make sure he gets the full picture of the story before writing. He tries not to write from a one-sided perspective to allow the reader to be able to make their mind up on their own.

A Texas Longhorns fan, as well as a massive New York Giants fan, some of his favorite college players of all time are Arch Manning, Tim Tebow and Reggie Bush.

When he is not working, Ben enjoys watching films (especially Godzilla) and spending time with his cat.

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Edited by Gio Vergara