Zags would see disbursements more than double in joining newly formed Pac-12

Sep. 23—Joining the newly rebuilt Pac-12 conference would almost certainly bring more revenue to Gonzaga University athletics, but quantifying just how much is easier said than done.

The challenge lies in the West Coast Conference and the private university being historically tight-lipped about its financials, including the conference’s current media rights agreement and changes made to its disbursement model in 2018.

As rumors continue to circulate surrounding the basketball powerhouse’s potential move to the Pac-12, the figures that are available show it could be a $5 million to $12 million boon for Gonzaga Athletics.

In their attempts to rebuild what was the West Coast’s premier conference, Pac-12 officials have been reportedly teasing annual disbursements of $10 million to $15 million to prospective new members. That figure was apparently enough for outgoing Mountain West Conference schools Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State and San Diego State to come aboard, with all sports beginning in 2026.

If Gonzaga were to join the conference with a full share of that expected payout, as Brett McMurphy of Action Network reported Monday morning, it could be a salve for the Bulldogs’ long-held frustrations with their nearly 40-year relationship with the WCC.

Gonzaga would likely see more competitive matchups, and with programs that have made comparative investments in athletics — both areas Gonzaga’s leadership has said their current conference is lacking.

Joining the Pac-12 would bring Gonzaga a $5 million to $12 million in annual revenue, according to WCC tax filings.

The WCC disbursed a total of $4.35 million to its 11 member schools in 2022, with Gonzaga receiving the lion’s share at $3.2 million, according to the filings. Conference rival St. Mary’s College, also rumored to be in discussions with the Pac-12, was the next closest at $636,000 that year.

Gonzaga’s lopsided share — which doesn’t include substantial local television revenues — is likely due to the conference’s 2018 restructuring of how it allocates the league’s NCAA basketball tournament revenues, changes that were made as the Bulldogs entertained an offer to join the Mountain West Conference.

While the exact details haven’t been publicly disclosed, the restructuring provided more of that revenue to the schools that earned it for the conference, which, for decades, has mostly been Gonzaga. Combining the conference and TV revenues may help explain why Gonzaga might be able to negotiate a full share of Pac-12 revenues without having to field a football team.

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Each year, the NCAA distributes a portion of its proceeds from the March Madness men’s basketball tournament to participating conferences and their schools. Each game a school plays in the tournament earns a “unit” for the conference, meaning a conference stands to earn more if numerous teams qualify and then do well in the tournament.

For years, the WCC’s proceeds through earned units were distributed equally to all member schools, a frequent point of contention for Gonzaga’s leadership, including head coach Mark Few. While Gonzaga has appeared in every tournament since 1999, and often makes a deep run — including an active streak of nine straight Sweet 16 appearances — the rest of the conference, save for the Saint Mary’s Gaels, rarely qualify.

If the conference’s tax filings are any indication, Gonzaga is now seeing more return on the revenue it pulls in for the conference. The school is also receiving more for what it’s historically pulled in, with the conference agreeing to pay $1 million each year in NCAA back shares, as previously reported by The Spokesman-Review.

Bringing Gonzaga into the Pac-12 also would make good financial sense for the conference, which will have to pay $43 million in poaching penalties to the Mountain West for scooping up the aforementioned four schools due to a provision included in the conferences’ 2025 scheduling agreement. The Pac-12 is also reportedly helping those institutions with their exiting fees for the Mountain West, which are expected to cost around $18 million per school.

With the penalties and exiting fees combined, the Pac-12 and its new members are staring down a bill of around $115 million, as sports columnist Jon Wilner of the Mercury News reported Sunday.

The price tag to have Gonzaga join is unknown: The WCC required a $500,000 exit fee with two years’ notice from a school, and $1 million if the exit came within a year’s notice when BYU left the conference to join the Big 12. Those exit fees have likely grown substantially amid conference shake-ups.