The CW and Pac-12 extend partnership through the 2030-31 season

“Our partnership with The CW has been one of mutual growth and transformation, from the development of our Pac-12 Enterprises’ broadcast production business to the significant added value and positive impact to our current and future members via true national reach across 100% of U.S. television households,” said Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould. “I am excited for the continued growth of both The CW and the Pac-12 in the years ahead!” 

 

President of The CW Network, Brad Schwartz, commented, “The Pac-12 has been a key partner in the success of CW Sports, and we are thrilled to solidify our relationship with the conference for an additional five years. We have experienced firsthand the passion of the Oregon State and Washington State football programs and their dedicated fans and we are eager to introduce an additional seven schools in the new Pac-12 to our nationwide CW Sports audience. We are also excited to bring Pac-12 men’s and women’s basketball to our viewers featuring some of the most dynamic and celebrated collegiate programs in the country.” 

 

The long-term partnership with The CW, in addition to the previously announced long-term partnership with CBS Sports, also includes other notable highlights for the new Pac-12 with:

 

New Pac-12 Media Partnership Highlights

• Maximum reach & national exposure – Now with CBS and The CW as long-term partners of the new Pac-12, both reaching 100% of U.S. households via over-the-air broadcast networks, the two will combine to feature a minimum of 16 regular season football games, 38 regular season men’s basketball games and 15 regular season women’s basketball games as well as the league’s annual football championship game and men’s basketball tournament championship games on CBS and its women’s basketball tournament semifinal matches and championship game on The CW.
• All three jewel events on national broadcasts – The new Pac-12 will see its annual football championship game as well as its men’s and women’s basketball tournament championship games all broadcast via over-the-air networks with football and men’s basketball on CBS and streaming on Paramount+ and women’s basketball on The CW.
• Continued growth with The CW – The five-year extended partnership will see the Pac-12 and The CW continue their growth together as the new Pac-12 launches in year three of a partnership with The CW and the network’s fourth year in sports. Per Nielsen and as of Aug. 8, 2025, The CW has had five consecutive quarters of primetime ratings growth with sports programming now accounting for over 40% of the network’s programming hours. In addition, Pac-12 Enterprises will continue to produce all of its game broadcasts on The CW, totaling 66 annual events across the three sports for the new Pac-12.

During the 2024 football season, the Pac-12 saw strong viewership for its 11 home football games across Oregon State and Washington State featured on The CW, with several notable viewership highlights including: 

2024 Pac-12 Football Viewership Highlights on The CW

• Most-watched football game on The CW was the lone matchup between Washington State and Oregon State in Corvallis (695k), which the two will meet again during the 2025 season on The CW on Nov. 29 to wrap up the regular season in Pullman for the second of two matchups next season. 
• Top three most-watched football games on The CW were Pac-12 games (also, Colorado State at Oregon State – 568k and San Jose State at Washington State – 542k).
• Five of the top six most-watched football games on The CW were Pac-12 games (also, UNLV at Oregon State – 507k and Purdue at Oregon State – 452k).
• 11 games total on The CW averaged 431k viewers (460k in nine games vs. FBS opponents).

New Pac-12’s Transformational Process

With today’s announcement, the Pac-12 continues its transformational process by welcoming another key long-term partner. As one of the first partnerships for Oregon State and Washington State for the 2024 season and first year of a NCAA two-year grace period, The CW and the new Pac-12 have been and will continue to be integral in each other’s growth. In recent weeks the new Pac-12 has also welcomed a long-term anchor partnership with CBS Sports as well as the addition of Texas State University to its future membership.

Further media rights partnerships for the new Pac-12 will be announced following finalized agreements. All nine current and future members of the new Pac-12 participated in the decision to extend the partnership long term with The CW. 

New Pac-12: Looking Ahead

Though the new Pac-12 will not officially begin until the 2026-27 season, recent seasons have offered a glimpse into the on-going and overall strength of the new league from a competitive and brand perspective, with highlights over the past few seasons including: 

• Top Five League in Football – Over the last four seasons, since the beginning of the NIL & transfer portal era, considering and comparing to future conference compositions (as of Aug. 2025) beginning with the 2026 season, the new Pac-12 has had:
  

  • The fourth-best collective winning percentage (.547) behind only the SEC (.614), Big Ten (.592) and Big 12 (.550) in that time.
  • Five of its eight football programs ranked among the College Football Playoff’s (CFP) Top 25, or 63% of its programs, the fifth-highest total percentage of programs ranked in the CFP Top 25 among all conferences in that time.
  • Six of its eight football programs ranked among the Associated Press’ (AP) Top 25, or 75% of its programs, the fifth-highest total percentage of programs ranked in the AP Top 25 among all conferences in that time.
  • A collective average SportSource Analytics (SSA) Team Success ranking of 72nd among 136 total FBS teams (as of the 2026 season), the fifth-highest average SSA Team Success ranking.
  • A collective average Football Power Index (FPI) ranking of 77th among 136 total FBS teams (as of the 2026 season), the fifth-highest average FPI ranking.
  • Boise State earn the No. 3 overall seed in the first edition of the expanded 12-team CFP in 2024. 

• Top Five League in Men’s Basketball – Over the last five seasons considering and comparing to future conference compositions (as of  Aug. 2025) beginning with the 2026-27 season, the new Pac-12 has had: 
  

  • The fifth-best average NET ranking among the six major conferences.
  • Seven of its nine men’s basketball programs make the Men’s NCAA Tournament since 2021.
  • Two appearances in the National Championship game, one of three conferences with multiple men’s title game appearances since 2021 (also, Big 12 & Big East). 
  • Four of its nine men’s basketball programs make the Men’s NCAA Tournament last season, one of five leagues to see at least 40% of its members in the men’s tournament last season (also, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten & SEC).

Oregon State and Washington State are currently operating as members of the Pac-12 Conference as part of a NCAA two-year grace period and will continue to do so for the 2025-26 academic season prior to new members officially joining beginning with the 2026-27 season. All current and incoming members continue to collaboratively chart additional business matters and future conference considerations.