Pac-12 puts a piece in place for its future with five-year TV deal with CBS

The Pac-12 announced the first part of its media deal on Monday, extending its partnership with CBS to televise conference football and basketball games and perhaps taking a bite out of the Mountain West in the process.

CBS will broadcast the conference football and basketball championship games starting in 2026 and a minimum of three regular-season games in both sports, and will be the Pac-12’s “primary long-term media partner.” The network also will carry a to-be-determined number of football and basketball games on the CBS Sports Network and streaming on Paramount+.

Financial terms if the agreement were not disclosed. The deal between the Pac-12 and CBS runs for five years through the 2030-31 athletic year.

“Our goal with this process was to find transformational partnerships for the new Pac-12, and throughout our discussions and time together it became more and more clear that a partnership with CBS Sports would be just that,” Pac-12 commissioner Teresa Gould said in a statement. “I am thankful to the team at CBS Sports for seeing our vision and investing in our shared future as we build, launch and realize a new Pac-12 together.”

The Pac-12 in April announced that CBS, the CW and ESPN would televise Oregon State and Washington State home games this season, providing exposure for the two schools left behind when the Pac-12 imploded in a flurry of realignment with schools heading to the Big Ten, Big 12 and Atlantic Coast Conference.

Additional media partners for 2026 will be announced at a later date, according to the release from the Pac-12. The deal is inclusive of one football-playing all sports member — the conference still must announce an eighth full member by July 1, 2026 to meet NCAA conference certification requirements.

Fresno State, Boise State, Colorado State and San Diego State accepted invitations to the Pac-12 in September 2024, joining conference holdovers Oregon State and Washington State.

Utah State two weeks later became the fifth member of the Mountain West Conference to bolt for the Pac-12. Gonzaga, which does not sponsor a football team, joined the league last October.

The five-year contract between the Pac-12 and CBS may impact the Mountain West, in its next media deal. CBS and FOX have a six-year contract worth $270 million with the Mountain West that expires in 2026.

This story was originally published June 23, 2025 at 1:01 PM.