Pac-2 finalizes 2025 media deal with The CW, ESPN, CBS (2025)

One of the most improbable stories in the tectonic shifts of conference realignment is the staying power of the Pac-2 and possible resurrection of the Pac-12. And we may have just gotten one step closer to the survival of the Conference of Champions.

When the wide majority of Pac-12 schools left for other power conferences in the wake of a collapsing media deal, it left Oregon State and Washington State holding the bag. Due to NCAA regulations, they have been able to keep the Pac-12 going, if in name only. But fortunes finally turned with a successful raid of the Mountain West Conference amidst failed merger talks.

Now, the Pac-12 will reform in 2026 with the additions of Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State, and Utah State from the Mountain West and Gonzaga from the West Coast Conference as a non-football member.

Oregon State and Washington State were able to survive as a Pac-2 in 2024 thanks to a television deal with The CW. And now the league’s remaining members have struck a new media deal in 2025 ahead of conference expansion in 2026.

Ben Portnoy at Sports Business Journal reports that Oregon State and Washington State have come to an agreement on a television rights deal for the upcoming season. The CW will once again be the home for most action, but ESPN and CBS will also pick up two games each this year.

The Pac-12 has finalized its 2025 football media rights deal, sources told Sports Business Journal.

The 13-game package composed of Washington State and Oregon State’s home games will be dispersed across three networks — The CW, CBS and ESPN — and will serve as a one-year stopgap between now and what is expected to be a separate, lengthier media rights agreement that will incorporatethe additions of at least six new membersbeginning in 2026.

The CW is expected to take on the bulk of the 2025 package with nine games, while ESPN and CBS will broadcast two games apiece. Financial terms were not readily available at press time.

The ability for Oregon State and Washington State to get some exposure on ESPN and CBS has to be seen as a big victory for the Pac-2. The first of two games between the conference rivals will air on CBS on November 1 while the Apple Cup rivalry game between Washington and Washington State will also air on CBS.

ESPN will air two early season Oregon State games against ACC member California (that still feels extremely weird to type) and Big XII member Houston.

While it’s great for the Pac-2 to finally get their 2025 ducks in a row, all attention now turns to whether the resurrected Pac-12 can sign a full-fledged and long-term media deal for the 2026 season and beyond. The last time the conference looked to secure a long-term rights deal, it led to the destruction of the original Pac-12 as all but the two remaining schools fled for greener pastures.

With the addition of the Mountain West schools and Gonzaga, the conference is not in as strong of a negotiating position given the status of the schools they are replacing. But if there is a market somewhere out there for the new look Pac-12 as a non-major conference and they can get something done, then it could complete one of the most remarkable comebacks that college athletics has ever seen.

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