Pac-10 move would cost Colorado $9 million

Nine million dollars. It`s the initial price tag for the University of Colorado to move from the Big 12 Conference to the Pac-10 by 2012. The biggest question from the Colorado perspective, if the Pac-10 comes calling, is whether absorbing the initial cost of switching conferences is too much or if it`s a small price to pay in the long run to be in a conference in which many believe CU is a better fit. Under Big 12 rules, Colorado must give two years notice if it plans to withdraw from the league and would forfeit 50 percent of its conference distribution for both of those years. CU received $9.7 million from the Big 12 for the 2008-09 school year and is expecting about $9 million this year because the league had only one team in a Bowl Championship Series football game. Assuming those numbers remain consistent over the next two years, it would cost Colorado roughly $4.5 million per year or $9 million over two years to leave the Big 12. The fall of 2012 is the target date for any possible Pac-10 expansion because that is when its new television agreements will begin. It`s possible CU could give one year`s notice in the summer of 2011 and end up paying roughly the same amount by forfeiting 90 percent of one year of Big 12 revenue. The cost also could grow if the Pac-10 required an entry fee, but that is unlikely. – Daily Camera