Big XII New Contract Extension With ESPN

[SportsICT]

The Big XII is about to get paid! They're negotiating a contract extension that will pay allow for $20 million per school when paired with the new Fox contract.

Link

 

[Seattle4UT]

The article's statement about the Pac 12 rejecting Texas and Oklahoma due to "internal squabbling" is laughable.

 

[Texas Taps]

Pac-12 quote: "Those delicious looking grapes over there, yea, I'll bet they're sour."

 

[coolhorn]

I'm surprised Dodd claimed UT was rejected by the PAC 12 presidents...he's generally a lot more accurate than that. OU (...and okie lite) were rejected, according to stories at the time, BECAUSE UT wasn't part of the deal. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I recall UT seriously flirting with the PAC only once, about a year and a half ago. I recall the UT administration making a trip up to Norman to try to convince the okies to stay with the Big XII, rather than move west. Dodd needs to get his facts straight.

While I'm thinking about it, I read somewhere else that this new deal will ensure the survival of the Big XII, and ensure that it stays at ten teams. Can anybody tell me why the new deal keeps the Big XII from expanding?

I remember the talk before Mizzou and agricultural split for the SEC..."The SEC won't expand because they have no guarantee that ESPN will renegotiate their tv deal, and current SEC teams won't take less money to expand." The SEC DID expand, and I read a few days ago that ESPN is going to renegotiate with the confederacy for the biggest tv rights deal yet.

What's to keep the Big XII from adding Florida State, Miami, Clemson, and Louisville, then doing a new deal with ESPN? A Big XII with those four new teams will be a lot more attractive, and I don't see ESPN saying no to renegotiation. The precedent has already been set with ESPN's dealings with the SEC.

When all of the realignment shakes out, there will be four and a half major conferences, the PAC 12, B1G, SEC, Big XII, and a somewhat watered-down ACC.

 

[agssuk]

I have heard that Dodds wants to stay @ 10 teams. However, since all teams have given up their Tier 1&2 rights for 6(?) years if they leave the conference, wouldnt that take away alot of his leverage? Just sayin, cause everyone else in the conference seems to think Dodds always gets his way. Weather that is true or not (I have never been to an AD meeting) seems to me if he he wanted to stay @ 10 teams and the others wanted to expand, the ball would not be in his court. I dont know...its early and I am rambling..

 

[coolhorn]

Dodds is on record that he favors the ten team, round robin format of the current Big XII. He said at the same time several months ago that if the rest of the conference wanted to go back to twelve teams, or more, he would support that move, so I don't think he'd stand in the way.

By the way, I think IF the Big XII makes a move to fourteen teams, the favored four right now would be Florida State, Clemson, Louisville, and BYU. There's talk of Miami, but at this time, talks are further along with BYU, provided they lift their sanction on playing games on Sundays. Some posters here say Florida State and Clemson are pipe dreams. Don't believe that. Both of the ACC schools are doing their due diligence right now, and are taking a serious look at realigning with the Big XII. There are plenty of back channel talks going on between the conference and those two schools, and a big deciding factor will be who is chosen to be the Big XII's new commissioner in a few months. The 'Noles and Tigers are football-first schools in a basketball-first conference, and they also know that they stand to make a lot more money in the Big XII than in the ACC. Money talks, and you know what walks.

 

[XOVER]

Well, $20M per school is incorrect even if the MSM erroneously continues to make the claim.
When synced up with Fox, the two deals together are $2.5B over 13 years, which is $19.2M per year per school, not $20M.

We only wish the two deals were $20M per year per school.

Actually, I'm a little disappointed in this deal, except ....

Except there is rumored to be an escalator clause within the ESPN contract, whereby the addition of certain schools allows for a mechanical increase in the value of the contract.

ESPN has said, in effect, that if you add teams from this list, the Big XII is guaranteed an increase of $2.05M per team so long as the final number of teams is 11, 12, 14, or 16.

Apparently the 13th or 15th team don't provide $2M in value, but 13+14 or 15+16 provide $4M in value (something to do with inventory management). The list is not long, so every team on it has value to the Big XII and ESPN sufficient to cover their cost plus $2.05M.

This is what another person says:

In reply to:

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[Burnt Orange Bevo]

Less than 9 months ago, a majority of posters were insisting that the Big XII conference was DOOMED.

Funny how things change in the space of a few months.

 

[XOVER]

In September, the conference was very close to being doomed.

Texas got turned down by the ACC.

Oklahoma got turned down by the PAC.

If either of those moves happen, the Big 12 would have collapsed.

 

[Horns11]

aggy will be pointing and laughing its *** off once the SEC Network nets about $35MM/school. I guess the funnier part is that they're going to finish around .500 every year and we're not.

 

[ViperHorn]

In order to get Alabama, LSU and Florida to give up their Tier III rights, the number is either going to have to be huge, or their is going to have to be unequal shares. The chances of aggy ever making substantially more money in the SEC than if they had stayed in the Big 12 is very small.

That is all without ND in the Big 12. If that were to happen, the Tier I and II money in the Big 12 will out pace everything now known to man. Also, Tier III will either be left to the schools (accommodates Kansas, ND and Texas), but the Conference will put together a package for those who want to ban together.

 

[coolhorn]

The latitude concerning tier three tv rights is why the Big XII will grow, at the expense primarily of the ACC. It's also a major reason eventually Notre Dame will seriously consider Big XII membership. The schools being targeted for expansion by the Big XII, Florida State, Clemson, Miami, Louisville, Notre Dame, and possibly BYU, are doing their due diligence right now, and figuring out long-term they stand to make a lot more money being members of the Big XII than standing pat. Maryland and Georgia Tech may also hold some appeal to the Big XII, especially if BYU won't budge on the issue of playing Sunday games.

IF the Big XII were to add Florida State, Clemson, Miami, and Louisville, the conference would be well-placed to battle the SEC in its' own back yard if that conference tries to push the Big XII around. That would definitely trump the one in the SEC has to Texas.

It is interesting that this conference was close to cratering, but probably no more than two years down the road, it's going to be THE place to be, and I think there will be three or four teams that will have cut their nose off to spite their face by moving to new neighborhoods.

 

[majorwhiteapples]

I would look more at Virginia and Virginia Tech then Clemson and Lousiville.

Florida State, Miami, Virginia and Virginia Tech matched with West Virginia would provide a very solid foundation and allow regional rivalries to grow, continue and blossom.

 

[coolhorn]

Virgina and Virginia Tech would be quality adds to the Big 12. The question is, are they interested? Clemson would be a solid add in football, and Louisville in basketball, and both of those schools have shown interest in the Big 12.

I'm not advocating any one school over another. I just think expansion is inevitable if the Big 12 is to survive and thrive, and I think the bulk of that expansion will come at the expense of the ACC. The elephant in the room is Notre Dame, and I think, going forward, the Big 12 will be in good shape to interest the Irish when they start looking for a conference to join, especially by adding the ACC's football-first schools.