NEWS BRIEF

That also means more airtime for the Buffs. Meanwhile, the Pac-12 hasn’t secured a media deal past 2024.

Student-athletes also stand to gain financially. More exposure can mean more money in the hands of collegiate athletes now that the NCAA allows compensation for an athlete’s name, image and likeness (NIL).

But George said the decision is about more than money: Aligning with the Big 12 will be good for studentathletes in numerous way.

“We’ve done our analysis and they’ll be traveling less in the Big 12, playing in more favorable time slots where we believe they can get greater national exposure and return to Boulder after away games at earlier times,” he said at the press conference.

CU isn’t the only school leaving the Pac-12. Last summer, UCLA and USC announced they will shift to the Big Ten in 2024. Both schools were in the Pac-12 for nearly a century.

In response to UT and OU leaving the Big 12 next year, the association added four new members this year — Brigham Young University, University of Cincinnati, University of Houston and the University of Central Florida. When CU joins next year, the Big 12 will have 13 members.

Critics of the conference realignment frenzy say it dismantles college rivalries — a reality Buff fans know well after CU and Nebraska, a rivalry dating back to 1898, split from the Big 12 in 2011. The rivalry between OU and Oklahoma State is another example.

“It’s all about money,” said Michael Veley, professor of sport management at Syracuse University, in an interview with Fortune. “The student-athletes and the fan bases are the victims of this takeover. There’s no regional sensibility anymore.”

Danney Sanchez, head soccer coach at CU, says while the Pac-12 is at the “pinnacle” of women’s soccer at the Division One level, he’s excited to shift to the Big 12 — what he calls a “great soccer conference.”

“As the landscape changes, and we can see everything that’s going on with the conferences, [the administration] made a great decision to go to the Big 12.”