UCLA makes move official, will join Big Ten in 2024
The Bruins have applied for membership to and been accepted by the Big Ten. UCLA will join the conference in 2024 alongside USC.
A press release from the program announced the news Thursday afternoon.
𝗕𝗜𝗚 news! UCLA is joining the Big Ten Conference at the start of the 2024-25 season! 👀
➡️: https://t.co/ygoY70o2bo#GoBruins pic.twitter.com/Cgj5orGhiI
— UCLA Athletics (@UCLAAthletics) June 30, 2022
UCLA athletic director Marin Jarmond and chancellor Gene Block wrote in a letter to the Bruin community that the Big Ten will provide more financial stability for the athletic department and all its sports while specifically mentioning the increased exposure from the new Big Ten footprint can help enhance NIL earnings for current student-athletes.
offers Bruins exciting new competitive opportunities and a broader national media platform for our student-athletes to compete and showcase their talents. Specifically, this move will enhance Name, Image and Likeness opportunities through greater exposure for our student-athletes and offer new partnerships with entities across the country.
“Each school faces its own unique challenges and circumstances, and we believe this is the best move for UCLA at this time,” they wrote. “For us, this move offers greater certainty in rapidly changing times and ensures that we remain a leader in college athletics for generations to come.
“As the oldest NCAA Division I athletic conference in the United States and with a footprint that will now extend from the Pacific to the Atlantic, Big Ten membership offers Bruins exciting new competitive opportunities and a broader national media platform for our student-athletes to compete and showcase their talents. Specifically, this move will enhance Name, Image and Likeness opportunities through greater exposure for our student-athletes and offer new partnerships with entities across the country.”
The letter also mentions that UCLA moving to the Big Ten will preserve and maintain “all 25 current teams and more than 700 student-athletes in our program.”
The Bruins and Trojans will stay with the Pac-12 through the expiration of the current media rights deal before becoming full members of the Big Ten effective Aug. 2, 2024. The school’s status as a full member entitles UCLA to full payouts of the media rights’ revenue immediately, and that payout is expected to be significant.
“For our fans, Big Ten membership equates to better television time slots for our road games, but the same number of home games either at the Rose Bowl, in Pauley Pavilion or other UCLA venues,” they wrote. “We will make efforts to preserve our traditional regional rivalries and are pleased that our crosstown rival, USC, will also be joining the Big Ten in 2024–25. While we are fierce competitors on the field, we have a rich tradition of collaboration that we look forward to continuing.
“We recognize these are big changes. We value the talent and dedication of our student-athletes as well as the passion of Bruins fans far and wide. The best way to respect that is to protect our program from the great uncertainty it would face if we did not make this transition. Because of our unique circumstances, we believe this is the right move for the UCLA Bruins and the right time. We hope you will share our enthusiasm as we take this step to preserve the legacy, tradition and high standards that have epitomized the UCLA Bruins for the century that has passed and the centuries that lie ahead.”