CBS Sports to anchor Pac-12 Conference’s media rights package

The Pac-12 Conference announced CBS Sports will be its “primary long-term media partner” when the new-look league hits the football field and basketball court for the 2026-27 season.

The agreement, announced Monday, runs through the 2030-31 season. It’s an extension of the Pac-12’s partnership with CBS, which is scheduled to televise two football games this season when Washington State and Oregon State are the only members.

WSU and OSU will be joined in the Pac-12 in 2026-27 by Gonzaga, which doesn’t compete in football, and former Mountain West Conference members Boise State, San Diego State, Fresno State, Colorado State and Utah State.

All current and future members “participated in the decision to extend the partnership long term with CBS Sports,” according to a Pac-12 release.

“The new Pac-12 is innovative and entrepreneurial, and this partnership marks a powerful new chapter,” WSU President Elizabeth Cantwell said. “We’re leading the conference into a future defined by national visibility, competitive excellence, and innovation. This is more than a media deal; It’s a statement of purpose and a springboard to what’s next.”

Beginning in the 2026-27 season, the Pac-12 football title game and men’s basketball tournament championship game will air on CBS and stream on Paramount+ as well as a minimum of three regular-season football and three regular season men’s basketball games each season.

CBS Sports Network also will televise an unspecified number of regular season football and men’s basketball contests.

Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould said CBS rose to the top by checking three primary boxes: Exposure, financial support and a transformational partner.

“CBS is a leader in the sports industry and provides an incredible reach and an incredible platform for us to show the world what the new Pac-12 is going to be,” Gould told Yogi Roth on his Y-Option podcast. “In this day and age in college sports, supporting high-level, nationally relevant competitive programs certainly takes money. We’re pleased that we have the opportunity with CBS to support our programs at a high level.”

Gould added it was important “that we had a partner that would really support and collaborate with us to build and launch this new league and really brainstorm about how we build something really special and different for the modern student-athlete and what their expectations are in this new world of college athletics.”

The Pac-12 figures to be busy in the coming weeks.

The conference hopes to have multiple media partnerships. The Pac-12 release noted “additional partners to be announced at a later date.”

The Pac-12 is reportedly moving closer to adding an eighth full-time member to reach the required number for Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) conferences. The Sun Belt Conference’s Texas State, which moved up to FBS in 2012, is believed to be at the top of the Pac-12’s expansion list for the 2026-27 season.

Texas State, based in San Marcos, has gone 8-5 the last two seasons, capped by a pair of First Responder Bowl wins. The Bobcats men’s basketball team has been around .500 the last three seasons following a four-year streak of winning records, including three 20-win seasons.

Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger reported that the Pac-12 could extend an invitation to Texas State this week after months of conversations.

Texas State declined a verbal offer to join the Mountain West Conference in October, 2024.

The Pac-12’s entire media rights package could include as many as four partners. “The total value of that package remains unclear, though the final annual per-school figure is expected to fall toward the lower range of a projection that the conference showed expansion targets last year ($8-15 million),” Dellenger wrote.

“The extended partnership with CBS Sports is inclusive of one additional football-playing, all-sports member,” according to the Pac-12 release.

Washington State and Oregon State joined the West Coast Conference as affiliate members in numerous sports for two years while revamping the Pac-12. Gonzaga, a WCC member since 1979, will play its final season in the WCC this winter before joining the Pac-12.