Pac-12 teaming with USA Network for football, basketball games
Pac-12 teaming with USA Network for football, basketball games
USA will provide a large selection of Pac-12 football games starting in 2026.
The Pac-12 is about to undergo a major expansion. The conference has just two schools as of now, but will expand to nine full members in 2026-27. The conference has already announced partnerships for some of its media rights for top sporting events, but on Thursday, the conference announced another new partnership — this time with USA Network, which will get a large selection of top Pac-12 games.
Key Details:
- New team member: USA Sports has agreed to a five-year deal with the Pac-12 starting next year.
- Biggest football partner: USA will get 22 regular season Pac-12 football games.
- Not going to Peacock: USA Network is now part of Versant, and the games have no on-demand streaming partner as of now.
Starting with the 2026-27 athletic year, the Pac-12 will offer a large number of football and basketball games on USA Network. That includes 22 regular-season football games each season for the next five years; The CW will get 13 football games from the conference, with CBS, [CBS Sports], and Paramount+ combining to offer at least 13 more — including the conference championship.
USA Network will also get 50 regular-season men’s basketball games each year, as well as games from the Pac-12 conference championship tournament. The channel will also receive five to 10 women’s basketball games per season, while The CW and Paramount platforms will pitch in to distribute the conference’s basketball schedule as well.
The deals will mean that all of the conference’s football games will be available on nationally available TV channels, either broadcast or cable networks. Over 70% of Pac-12 regular-season basketball games will be broadcast across the same channels, helping the conference continue to grow its audience as it adds new schools.
The USA Network is in the process of being spun off with the majority of other NBCUniversal-owned cable channels into a new company called Versant. While Versant has teamed with its former corporate sibling Peacock on some sports rights, they don't have a comprehensive deal yet, and at the moment, there is no streaming agreement that will bring Pac-12 games slated to air on USA to any on-demand streaming service.
| DIRECTV | Fubo | Hulu | Philo | Sling TV | YouTube TV | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free Trial | Free Trial | Free 3-Day Trial | Free Trial | Save with Sling | Free Trial | |||||
| $20.99 | $9.99 | $28.99 | $25 | $19.99 | $29.99 | $45.99 | $45.99 | $64.99 | ||
| USA Network | + $24 | - | + $61 | - | - | - | - | ✓ | ✓ | |
There’s plenty of time for that to change before the 2026-27 fall sports season starts, but it’s something to keep an eye on. Nevertheless, the Pac-12 now has a strong lineup of partners to offer its football and basketball games as it prepares to expand to nine schools.
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