August 7, 2023
Dear Cougar Nation,
The last few weeks have been tumultuous for Washington State University and the
Pac‑12 Conference. The decision by the University of Washington and the University
of Oregon to accept offers to join the Big Ten Conference sealed the fate of the Pac‑12.
By the end of the day on Friday, only four members of the Pac‑12 remained — Washington
State, Oregon State, Cal‑Berkeley, and Stanford.
The Pac‑12 Board of Directors is composed of all the sitting presidents and
chancellors of the current member institutions, and we met 30 times over the past 12 months
in an attempt to work out a future media rights deal that all conference members found
suitable. During this time, we had multiple media partners spend months discussing media
deals only to drop out at the last minute, mostly due to the rapidly changing sports media
environment.
On Tuesday, Commissioner George Kliavkoff presented the Board of Directors with an
innovative and forward-looking partnership proposal with Apple. The approach proposed by
Apple was a subscription-based model that would utilize Apple TV for streaming athletic
contests. This model carried with it an opportunity to significantly grow the revenue coming
into each school over the next several years. As an Apple user and enthusiast, I looked
forward to seeing how we could integrate Pac‑12 sports into the Apple environment — similar
to what they have successfully achieved with Major League Soccer.
The guaranteed annual money from this proposal was not at the current level of support
that all schools receive, but there was a general acknowledgment that streaming Pac‑12 media
was clearly the direction media consumption was going. After several board meetings and robust
discussion among all nine schools, we finished our board meeting on Thursday evening with a
strong feeling of staying together, pursuing a new partnership with Apple, and moving forward
with conference expansion.
On Friday morning, we were shocked when the University of Washington and the University
of Oregon announced they had accepted Big Ten invitations. I genuinely felt that on Friday
morning we would sign the needed paperwork, finalize the deal with Apple, and move the Pac‑12
toward a new and brighter future.
Immediately after the decision, Pat Chun and I started reaching out to colleagues around the
nation to start working on options for Cougar Athletics. We talked with multiple conference
commissioners, presidents and chancellors, athletic directors, and other leaders in college
athletics. These efforts continued through the weekend — and will continue until we find a
suitable home for Washington State athletics. I am in regular contact with the leaders from
the remaining Pac‑12 schools and will continue to do so moving forward.
Because these conversations are often confidential, we are not able to provide updates on
whom we are talking to and when. At this point, we are pursuing every possible opportunity to
ensure that we have multiple options moving forward.
I will be standing up a small group of faculty, staff, athletic administrators, and student
leaders to provide feedback on conference options for WSU as our pathway forward becomes more
clear in the days and weeks ahead. This group will be announced to the Cougar community by the
end of the week.
I know many of you are angry and upset by the situation WSU finds itself in — and it is
tempting to lash out. As President of WSU, my responsibility at this time is to work with
Pat Chun on as many options as possible for Cougar Athletics moving forward — taking into
account things like institutional fit, geography and travel costs, competitiveness, and
financial security.
What can you do to help?
- Regardless of our future conference affiliation, I ask that
you continue to support our 600+ WSU student-athletes, other fans, and our coaches.
- Embrace our new future as college athletics continues to go
through significant and unprecedented changes.
- Be patient as we explore our next conference affiliation — and
know that we want to take the time to find the right place for Cougar Athletics.
Whatever solution we come up with, it will be different moving forward. Washington State
has been a member of the same athletic conference since 1917, which has served us very well
over the past 106 years. I ask for your support over the coming days, weeks, and months as we
work diligently to find the right home for Cougar Athletics.
Kirk H. Schulz
System President
Washington State University
