SAN FRANCISCO- The Pac-12 Conference released the financial results of  2020-2021 early Friday afternoon. Unsurprisingly, the conference took a hit as did everyone else due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The press release revealed the numbers and broke down where the hits came from.

The Pac-12 Conference just released their 2020-2021 Covid year financials:

"In a financial yr significantly impacted by game cancellations due to Covid-19 pandemic, consolidated revenue reported @ $344M w/ total distributions @ $238M
Consolidated Expenses decrease 23% yr-on-yr"

— Michelle Bodkin (@BodkinKSLsports) May 20, 2022

Breaking The Financials Down

In the 2020-2021 fiscal year, the Pac-12 brought home a consolidated revenue reported to be at $344 million with total distributions at $238 million. That equates to approximately $19.8 million per member university. Consolidated expenses showed a 23% decrease year-on-year.

The decrease in reported revenues and distributions can be attributed to a few different sources.

First, event revenue was down due to no fans being allowed to attend games. Second, media rights and bowl revenue were down due to cancelled games. Finally, there were higher operating costs taken on due to Covid-19 health and safety protocols that included testing.

One area where costs were offset a bit according to the Pac-12 is in the production realm. Lower championship event costs came about due to no fans. Pac-12 Network operating costs were down due to cancelled agames, and lower personnel costs due to salary reductions, layoffs, and furloughs.

The Pac-12 did disclaim that the equity value of the Pac-12’s full ownership of the Pac-12 Networks is not included in the reported results.

All together the Pac-12 Conference reported revenues of $301 million and net operating expenses of $42 million, while the Pac-12 Networks brought in $43 million with net operating expenses of $57 million. Consolidated expenses for both the Conference and Networks decreased by 23% year-on-year.

Brighter Days Ahead

Pac-12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff hinted the results were no unexpected and expressed gratitude for everyone’s effort in navigating tricky times. Kliavkoff also appears optimistic the conference is taking positive steps toward recovery for the 2021-2022 fiscal year report.

“While the global pandemic significantly impacted our 2020-21 financial results, I am incredibly proud of our Conference’s collective commitment to the health and safety of our student-athletes and all those connected to Pac-12 sports,” Kliavkoff said.  “We are encouraged by the substantial return to pre-pandemic levels of revenue and distributions that our 2021-22 financial results will show when reported this coming year.”

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