Oregon, Washington to the Big Ten: Details emerge for B1G revenue distribution

Oregon and Washington officially became members of the Big Ten on Friday afternoon. They will join the league ahead of the 2024 season.

However, the Ducks and Huskies will not immediately receive a full share of the Big Ten’s media distributions — which typically makes up a large portion of an athletic department’s revenue in a given year.

According to college football insider Matt Fortuna, Oregon and Washington will receive $30 million in media distributions during their first year in the Big Ten. That figure will increase by $1 million until 2030-31, when they become full-share members on the Big Ten’s next TV deal.

Source: Oregon's and Washington's annual cut of the Big Ten's revenue distribution is expected to start at $30M and grow by $1M each year through the length of the current deal. They will receive full shares upon the next TV deal, in 2030-31.

They can borrow off future earnings.

— Matt Fortuna (@Matt_Fortuna) August 4, 2023

Oregon president John Karl Scholz confirmed Friday that the program would receive a “partial” share, although he did not reveal specific details.

Scholz did say that Oregon’s deal with the Big Ten is more “generous” than what the Ducks were offered in negotiations with the Pac-12. The Pac-12’s reported deal with Apple was expected to be worth approximately $20 million per school with the potential for that number to grow if certain subscriber thresholds were hit.

Instead, Oregon and Washington will earn approximately half as much as full-share Big Ten members during their first 6 years in the league. Other Big Ten programs are expected to earn roughly $60 million annually on the league’s next TV deal.