Pac-12 Conference Holds Fire Sale of Remaining Merchandise

As the conference’s days wind down to a close, Pac-12 merchandise is being sold off with urgency.

Oregon's Maddox Molony (9) throws the ball to first base duringÊthe NCAA college baseball game at Goss Stadium on Friday, April 26, 2024, in Corvallis, Ore. / Kevin Neri/Statesman Journal / USA TODAY

EUGENE - As the Pac-12 Conference era of college athletics draws to a close, something has to be done with all of the surplus merchandise the west-coast conference still has. Video was released from the PAC-12 Baseball Tournament of a fire sale involving all Pac-12 merchandise being sold at $5.

The dying conference’s woes began a long time ago, however, as commissioner George Kliavkoff failed to reach a media rights deal that satisfied almost any of the conference’s premier teams’ desires. ESPN is believed to have made the most compelling offer in the 2023 football offseason, but Kliavkoff assured the conference’s member institutions that there were better offers on the way.

Oregon's Maddox Molony (9) throws the ball to first base duringÊthe NCAA college baseball game at Goss Stadium on Friday, April 26, 2024, in Corvallis, Ore. / Kevin Neri/Statesman Journal / USA TODAY

As one could guess based on how things are going, this never came to pass. The ESPN offer remained the best, Kliavkoff didn’t bite, and the big-ticket teams on the west coast began to eye greener pastures.

The dominoes began to fall when USC and UCLA announced their move to the Big Ten Conference before the 2023 season and others were soon on the way with Colorado heading to the Big 12 Conference and Oregon and Washington joining the southern California schools in the Big Ten.

The rest of the conference bailed as well, and just like that it was down to two teams, Washington State and Oregon State. These two being the lone ‘survivors’ is not especially surprising when considering their respective media markets and the size of their fanbases.

Now, the practical implications of the Pac-12’s demise are obvious to fans everywhere. In an unfortunate display of what used to be, any nostalgic Pac-12 fans at this year’s baseball tournament were able cash in for cheaper merchandise than ever before in the final days of the legendary west coast conference.