$31.7 million Big 12 media deal payout for Arizona joining Brett Yormark's conference in 2024

Arizona is set to transition to the Big 12 in August. The university reached an agreement to join the conference last summer following the implosion of the Pac-12. The school will be making its move to the Big 12 alongside Colorado, Utah and in-state rival Arizona State.

Unlike the other Pac-12 teams that went to other Power Five conferences, Arizona and the other three schools joining the Big 12 won't take a discounted revenue. The four new schools are set to earn the same amount as the existing members of the conference.

The Big 12 will pay each of its teams $31.7 million when the new media deal with ESPN and Fox worth $2.3 billion kicks off in 2025. The schools are estimated to earn $42 million in total in 2024 when other revenue streams are taken into account and around $50 million in 2025.

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Good feeling about the transition at Arizona

Moving to the Big 12 after the Pac-12 couldn't secure a lucrative media deal was a welcomed idea at Arizona. The university needed to ensure its stability in the landscape, and the Big 12 offered that.

In a statement following the school's acceptance to the conference last summer, the university president Robert Robbins was intrigued at the level at which the Big 12 would help improve the Wildcats, which made the move the right one in many aspects.

“Our move to the Big 12 Conference will continue to raise the university's profile by increasing visibility, growing our reach across the country and around the globe, expanding our pool of prospective students, providing more resources to support our student-athletes, and presenting them with greater NIL prospects,” Robbins said.

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The Big 12 is to welcome the “Four Corn Schools”

Adding the “Four Corner schools” to the Big 12 last summer is viewed as a significant success by Commissioner Brett Yormark. He believes the four schools are a great fit for the conference.

“The culture fit with the Four Corners schools has been really great from Day 1,” Yormark said.

“We’ve spent a lot of time. I’ve been on all four campuses, met with presidents and ADs, the key stakeholders. They’ve embraced the DNA of this conference and where we’re going, and are now active participants.”

The four former Pac-12 schools will not only increase the competitive level of the Big 12 in football but will cut across several sports, including basketball, which is why Yormark described it as a dream scenario.