Board OK’s UCLA to Big 10, consists of conditions
8:25 PM ET Paolo UggettiESPN WESTWOOD, Calif.– UCLA is officially heading to the Huge 10 after receiving approval from
the University of California regents Wednesday, however the approval features stipulations.More than 5 months after the Bruins, together with USC, revealed their shocking objective
to leave the Pac-12 for the Big 10 in 2024, the UC Board of Regents chair and UCOP president recommended allowing UCLA to continue its move to the Big 10 in a special conference Wednesday on UCLA’s school. The Board of Regents approved the move by a vote of 11-5.”We took a look at the reality of where we are and what the options were,”Board of Regents chair Rich Leib said. “And I think in the end we just chose that the best thing to do is the method we did it, which is conditions, but permit them to go.”As part of the board’s choice, UCLA will need to increase its anticipated investment in student-athlete resources and might have to supply an aid to the University of California, Berkeley in the range of$2 million to $10 million once a Pac-12 media offer is protected, depending upon the quantity of the deal. A UCOP representative stated the frequency of the$ 2-10 million aid to UC Berkeley is yet to be determined.The board included other conditions for UCLA to address the impact of the carry on athletes, consisting of funds for academic assistance, nutritional support and psychological health services.
1 Associated According to the letter to the regents, the subsidy to UC Berkeley would be to “enhance student-athlete assistance on that school.”
“Berkeley really took a struck by UCLA leaving,” Leib said. “They suffered quite a bit. We do not understand just how much, but we felt it was very important … that we somehow make Berkeley, maybe not whole, however at least help them because circumstance.”
Leib said the board is enabled to revisit the problem once the Pac-12 has secured a media offer.
“We’re delighted to join the Huge Ten Conference in 2024 and are grateful for the Board of Regents’ thoughtful engagement in this decision,” UCLA athletic director Martin Jarmond stated after the decision. “We have actually constantly been directed by what is finest for our 25 teams and more than 700 student-athletes, and the Huge Ten deals amazing brand-new competitive chances on a larger nationwide media platform for our student-athletes to compete and display their skill.”
During four conferences in between last July and December, the regents have talked about and thought about input and research concerning the move. In September, UC regents general counsel Charles Robinson said the board had the authority to obstruct the move. The board was anticipated to reveal a choice in November however postponed it and called a special meeting for Wednesday to resolve anymore questions and provide a last decision.According to a regents record, the board wanted more information and research regarding the extra resources that would be required to enhance student-athletes’experience as part of the move.Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren revealed appreciation to the UC regents”for appreciating the decision”of UCLA to change conferences.” The landscape of collegiate athletics is evolving, and the Big 10 Conference is
in a position of stability and strength with unrivaled chances, direct exposure and resources for our member organizations and student-athletes,”Warren said in a prepared declaration.” With the collective goals to focus on the health and well-being of our student-athletes and forward our academic and athletic mission under the umbrella of college, we will continue our systematic integration process of UCLA and USC into the Big 10 Conference.”The transfer to the Big 10 has actually had its detractors, including UCLA alum Costs Walton and the National College Players Association– run by previous UCLA
football player Ramogi Huma– which came out against adjustment recently, mentioning the effect the extra travel would have on students’ academics and mental health.UC Berkeley chancellor Carol Christ had also voiced her dissent, stating the relocation would even more a professionalization of college sports. UC Berkeley is the school most impacted by the UCLA relocation. The sis schools will now be splitting, and a Pac-12 without the Los Angeles market of USC and UCLA likely reduces the value of an upcoming media rights deal.Before that abovementioned November meeting, UCLA offered the regents a document describing the school’s monetary plans for travel, academic assistance, psychological health services, nutrition and other areas surrounding the conference relocation, as well as a survey of 111 athletes with their thoughts on switching leagues. The school has said it intends to invest an extra $10 million on resources for professional athletes due to the move.On Wednesday, the board directed UCLA to provide additional annual resources for student-athlete assistance as condition for its relocate to the Big 10. “We actually added more to it, so entirely we have about, in between 11 and 12 countless enhancements,”
Leib stated. The main number is a range in between $11.03 million to$12.20 million.Those enhancements include offering about$ 6.3 million to academic support, nutritional support and mental health services for all student-athletes. Approximately$4.3 million will be for food, needing breakfast and lunch on campus for all UCLA athletes, professional dietitian services
and healthy meals while they are taking a trip.” You’re not playing [Rutgers] each week,”Jarmond stated while speaking at a Sports Company Journal conference in Las Vegas last week. “In the grand plan of things, it’s not that much. The benefits far exceed those obstacles.”UCLA, which has been plagued by$ 62.5 million in financial obligation, according to the Los Angeles Times, has said it would be in line to make up to$70 million each year in media rights and the subsequent exposure. In August, the Big Ten signed a seven-year, $7 billion media deal with Fox, CBS and NBC. The Pac-12 stays without a TELEVISION
deal.Speaking in Las Vegas last week, Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff said the conference would wait for the regents ‘choice prior to additional pursuing a media deal. The Pac-12 is the only conference without an offer, and Kliavkoff repeatedly revealed optimism in getting a lucrative offer done in the very first quarter of 2023, which would be followed,
according to Kliavkoff, by checking out expansion.”We do not know what’s gon na happen with the Pac-12 at this moment,”Leib stated.”They were hurt by USC and then UCLA making this [relocation] … but truly USC was the first one. There are signs that it might be a really strong media contract that they get in completion, which would make Berkeley a lot much better, so therefore perhaps the payment would be far less. It simply depends, it’s really difficult to understand. So we wanted to give ourselves a large range. “