The details revealed from the Pac-12 new media deal make it clear that the Tulane Green Wave were sound to stay in the American conference.
There was a sudden flurry of conference realignment that wasn’t focused on the Power Four for once in the middle of the 2025 college football season, and the Tulane Green Wave were at the epicenter. While the Pac-12 all but imploded thanks to key member departures, Oregon State and Washington State were left as the only members of a conference looking to be the best in the Group of Five. In order to get to the necessary number of football members, the Pac-12 looked for schools to join the reshaped conference – including the Green Wave.
However, Tulane, alongside American conference members Memphis Tigers, South Florida Bulls, and UTSA Roadrunners all announced in a joint statement that they were staying put back in September of last year. As more details, or lack thereof, emerge, it gets clearer and clearer that the four American members made the right call. For one, the television deal and exposure alone in the American conference are pointedly more attractive than the new Pac-12’s new media deal. In addition, the Green Wave really benefitted from their CFP berth and favorable payout structure in the conference that awarded them $8.1 million.
The American conference currently has a media deal with ESPN, and Tulane has received incredible exposure over the last few seasons as a result. It also has to do with the Green Wave’s increased football success. For perspective, their win over Kansas State in 2022 was on ESPN+. However, outside of their homecoming game against the Florida Atlantic Owls last season, every game for Tulane football was broadcast on ESPN, ESPN2, or ESPNU on the main broadcast channels.
In contrast, the Pac-12 media deal is in a partnership with CBS Sports, the CW, and USA Network. It does ensure that all football games will be on linear television. But with what broadcasters? What quality? And how much exposure? Frankly, a lot of people just leave their televisions on ESPN for the day. That benefits a team on those main channels. In addition, the Cache Valley Daily spoke with Utah State Vice President and Director of Athletics Cam Walker on the reported media deal figures.
They are speculated to be around $8 to $15 million per year, and while Walker didn’t disclose any specifics, he indicated that it was a bit of a letdown.
"The few years in the (media deal) are a little lean," Walker said. "Not worse than where we were, but a little leaner than maybe we anticipated."
For a school like Utah State coming out of the Mountain West conference, the increased exposure for football and men’s basketball games may be worth the lessened payout. That’s the presumed tradeoff for the Mountain West schools being added. For teams in the American, it all frankly seems like a downgrade. Considering they were the fourth-ranked highest conference champion in the College Football Playoff, it seems like it remains the G5 conference to beat.