Colorado State University Athletics

The CW and Pac-12 extend partnership through the 2030-31 season
8/27/2025 7:00:00 AM | General
New Pac-12 football to feature regular national reach on The CW
The CW Network and the Pac-12 Conference today jointly announced an extension of their partnership which began with the 2024 football season. The extended partnership will further the league's transformation beginning with the new Pac-12's launch for the 2026-27 season and continuing through the 2030-31 season. As part of the long-term relationship, football for the new Pac-12 will see a consistent regular season presence on The CW as well as regular season action for men's and women's basketball. In addition, the partnership will feature semifinal and championship matches for the new Pac-12's women's basketball tournament nationally on The CW.
With the announcement, The CW joins CBS Sports as partners of the new Pac-12 and its nine future members with Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, Gonzaga, Oregon State, San Diego State, Texas State, Utah State and Washington State. Octagon, the Pac-12's exclusive media rights advisor, served as advisor for both the 2025 partnership extension with The CW and subsequent long-term extension.
Similar to the 2024 and 2025 partnerships, Pac-12 Enterprises, the broadcast production arm of the conference, will produce all football, men's basketball and women's basketball games as part of the extended partnership, totaling 66 events annually. Additional highlights include:
New Pac-12 & The CW Partnership Highlights
President of The CW Network, Brad Schwartz, commented, "The Pac-12 has been a key partner in the success of CW Sports, and we are thrilled to solidify our relationship with the conference for an additional five years. We have experienced firsthand the passion of the Oregon State and Washington State football programs and their dedicated fans and we are eager to introduce an additional seven schools in the new Pac-12 to our nationwide CW Sports audience. We are also excited to bring Pac-12 men's and women's basketball to our viewers featuring some of the most dynamic and celebrated collegiate programs in the country."
The long-term partnership with The CW, in addition to the previously announced long-term partnership with CBS Sports, also includes other notable highlights for the new Pac-12 with:
New Pac-12 Media Partnership Highlights
2024 Pac-12 Football Viewership Highlights on The CW
With today's announcement, the Pac-12 continues its transformational process by welcoming another key long-term partner. As one of the first partnerships for Oregon State and Washington State for the 2024 season and first year of a NCAA two-year grace period, The CW and the new Pac-12 have been and will continue to be integral in each other's growth. In recent weeks the new Pac-12 has also welcomed a long-term anchor partnership with CBS Sports as well as the addition of Texas State University to its future membership.
Further media rights partnerships for the new Pac-12 will be announced following finalized agreements. All nine current and future members of the new Pac-12 participated in the decision to extend the partnership long term with The CW.
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With the announcement, The CW joins CBS Sports as partners of the new Pac-12 and its nine future members with Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, Gonzaga, Oregon State, San Diego State, Texas State, Utah State and Washington State. Octagon, the Pac-12's exclusive media rights advisor, served as advisor for both the 2025 partnership extension with The CW and subsequent long-term extension.
Similar to the 2024 and 2025 partnerships, Pac-12 Enterprises, the broadcast production arm of the conference, will produce all football, men's basketball and women's basketball games as part of the extended partnership, totaling 66 events annually. Additional highlights include:
New Pac-12 & The CW Partnership Highlights
- Annual women's basketball tournament semifinal and championship games on The CW.
- 13 regular season football games on The CW.
- 35 regular season men's basketball games on The CW.
- 15 regular season women's basketball games on The CW.
President of The CW Network, Brad Schwartz, commented, "The Pac-12 has been a key partner in the success of CW Sports, and we are thrilled to solidify our relationship with the conference for an additional five years. We have experienced firsthand the passion of the Oregon State and Washington State football programs and their dedicated fans and we are eager to introduce an additional seven schools in the new Pac-12 to our nationwide CW Sports audience. We are also excited to bring Pac-12 men's and women's basketball to our viewers featuring some of the most dynamic and celebrated collegiate programs in the country."
The long-term partnership with The CW, in addition to the previously announced long-term partnership with CBS Sports, also includes other notable highlights for the new Pac-12 with:
New Pac-12 Media Partnership Highlights
- Maximum reach & national exposure - Now with CBS and The CW as long-term partners of the new Pac-12, both reaching 100% of U.S. households via over-the-air broadcast networks, the two will combine to feature a minimum of 16 regular season football games, 38 regular season men's basketball games and 15 regular season women's basketball games as well as the league's annual football championship game and men's basketball tournament championship games on CBS and its women's basketball tournament semifinal matches and championship game on The CW.
- All three jewel events on national broadcasts - The new Pac-12 will see its annual football championship game as well as its men's and women's basketball tournament championship games all broadcast via over-the-air networks with football and men's basketball on CBS and streaming on Paramount+ and women's basketball on The CW.
- Continued growth with The CW - The five-year extended partnership will see the Pac-12 and The CW continue their growth together as the new Pac-12 launches in year three of a partnership with The CW and the network's fourth year in sports. Per Nielsen and as of Aug. 8, 2025, The CW has had five consecutive quarters of primetime ratings growth with sports programming now accounting for over 40% of the network's programming hours. In addition, Pac-12 Enterprises will continue to produce all of its game broadcasts on The CW, totaling 66 annual events across the three sports for the new Pac-12.
2024 Pac-12 Football Viewership Highlights on The CW
- Most-watched football game on The CW was the lone matchup between Washington State and Oregon State in Corvallis (695k), which the two will meet again during the 2025 season on The CW on Nov. 29 to wrap up the regular season in Pullman for the second of two matchups next season.
- Top three most-watched football games on The CW were Pac-12 games (also, Colorado State at Oregon State - 568k and San Jose State at Washington State - 542k).
- Five of the top six most-watched football games on The CW were Pac-12 games (also, UNLV at Oregon State - 507k and Purdue at Oregon State - 452k).
- 11 games total on The CW averaged 431k viewers (460k in nine games vs. FBS opponents).
With today's announcement, the Pac-12 continues its transformational process by welcoming another key long-term partner. As one of the first partnerships for Oregon State and Washington State for the 2024 season and first year of a NCAA two-year grace period, The CW and the new Pac-12 have been and will continue to be integral in each other's growth. In recent weeks the new Pac-12 has also welcomed a long-term anchor partnership with CBS Sports as well as the addition of Texas State University to its future membership.
Further media rights partnerships for the new Pac-12 will be announced following finalized agreements. All nine current and future members of the new Pac-12 participated in the decision to extend the partnership long term with The CW.
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