OSU VP of Athletics Scott Barnes Joins 750 The Game To Discuss Oregon State’s Media Deal For 2025 Season
750 The Game Staff
Oregon State and the Pac-12 Conference officially announced their media partners for the upcoming 2025 football season on Tuesday, and fans were excited to see the details that include ESPN, CBS and The CW as partners.
Vice President of Athletics Scott Barnes joined John Canzano (Afternoons 3-6 p.m. on The Game) and said it felt “absolutely great” to finally announce this deal.
“It’s been a while to get this thing put to bed,” Barnes acknowledged. “And you can see based on the three primary broadcasters and those platforms that several entities are involved here, so that does take a little bit of time. But we’re elated. Both in terms of exposure it brings and the partnership with the three carriers.”
Oregon State landed a pair of home games on ESPN in the deal, including the season-opener against Cal on Aug. 30th as well as a stand-alone Friday night home game against Houston on Sept. 26th.
“What you get with ESPN is this marketing engine that goes way beyond the broadcast of the game,” Barnes said. “The promotional aspects during SportsCenter and other pieces as they lead up to the game and then following up after the game. So all that combined is a really important part of what we’re trying to do.
“To have ESPN back to return to the Pac-12 is really important.”
Balancing exposure in television distribution with bottom-line revenue dollars is always an important dynamic for athletics executives to balance, and Barnes said this was no different, especially considering the launch of the ‘new Pac-12’ next year with Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State, and Utah State coming into the fold.
“As you think about our trajectory, this rebuild, and this launch that’s going to take place a year from July 1st, that exposure is super important,” said Barnes. “It becomes a catalyst for our future. It really does. So we’re happy with the distribution that we have among our three partners.”
Fans also are able to plan further in advance to attend home games at Reser Stadium, as eight of OSU’s games already have kickoff times in place, a departure from being subject to the 6-12 day dynamic in-season television selection window controlled by the networks.
“It’s refreshing,” said Barnes of the advanced kickoff times. “That six to twelve-day window, it was always a guessing game, and our fans would have to wait and plan accordingly. Now, they’re planning right now. To have that buttoned down — I think it’s something that we would want to continue to pursue moving into ’26 and beyond as well, is to have those windows locked down and the times where we can — it’s really advantageous for us and our fans.”
As for the media deal for 2026 and the new Pac-12, Barnes said he couldn’t comment on any specifics of how that is developing.
“What I will tell you is I’m really excited about the progress that’s been made on ’26 and beyond, and we’re getting closer by the day. So that’s yet to be determined on the timing, but I like our progress,” he said.
Barnes also expressed optimism for the Beavers on the football field in 2025 as head coach Trent Bray heads into his second full season at the helm, and transfer quarterback Maalik Murphy leads the offense.
“I am super excited about where we currently sit,” said Barnes. “We’ve been able to ward off the suitors in the portal. We’ve retained an excellent group coming back and added key pieces to what we needed. A year under Trent Bray’s belt and his staff learning how to operate in this new, crazy portal world, has paid huge dividends.
“I am really excited about what the future of Oregon State football looks like — the immediate future.”
Listen to the full conversation with Scott Barnes and John Canzano at the podcast below.
John Canzano delivers the Bald Faced Truth afternoons 3-6 p.m. exclusively in Portland on 750 The Game.