ADVERTISEMENT

BIG 12 update

Here are some of the main points:

--This summer will likely be filled by member institutions agreeing to new bylaws, finalizing schedules and negotiating new television contracts. It will also include more details on when Texas and Oklahoma plan to leave the conference; either before or after the 2025 season.

--Finalizing scheduling​

Bowlsby sees the conference breaking into divisions in football to deal with the large number of schools.

-Athletic directors from each school will get together this summer to vote on having divisions, and what those divisions would be.

-another consideration is if the Big 12 will adopt an eight-game conference schedule or nine games.

--Texas and Oklahoma​

--both schools are contractually obligated to stay for the next four years.

Bowlsby is expecting both institutions to stay through 2025. He pointed to the media rights contract — that Texas and Oklahoma signed — which runs through the 2025 season.

He also pointed to the conference bylaws, which state if a school leaves early, it must pay two years worth of revenue back to the conference before it leaves. It would mean Texas and Oklahoma would have to pay around $75 million to the conference respectively.

"they’ve told us they’re going to be here and we expect that they’ll be here.”

Bowlsby mentioned the court system as a potential remedy if either school tries to leave before 2025.

new media contract​

The media contract with Fox and ESPN runs through the 2024-25 season for the Big 12. This summer, the conference will start planning ahead to see where it will lend its media rights in the future.

Bowlsby indicated the conference is open to leaving Fox and ESPN for a different company. The Big 12 won’t necessarily box itself to only linear networks. It is also looking at streaming options as the media landscape changes.

"We’ll welcome a group of suitors out there and I think we will do well when it’s time to go to auction.”
 
Here are some of the main points:

--This summer will likely be filled by member institutions agreeing to new bylaws, finalizing schedules and negotiating new television contracts. It will also include more details on when Texas and Oklahoma plan to leave the conference; either before or after the 2025 season.

--Finalizing scheduling​

Bowlsby sees the conference breaking into divisions in football to deal with the large number of schools.

-Athletic directors from each school will get together this summer to vote on having divisions, and what those divisions would be.

-another consideration is if the Big 12 will adopt an eight-game conference schedule or nine games.

--Texas and Oklahoma​

--both schools are contractually obligated to stay for the next four years.

Bowlsby is expecting both institutions to stay through 2025. He pointed to the media rights contract — that Texas and Oklahoma signed — which runs through the 2025 season.

He also pointed to the conference bylaws, which state if a school leaves early, it must pay two years worth of revenue back to the conference before it leaves. It would mean Texas and Oklahoma would have to pay around $75 million to the conference respectively.

"they’ve told us they’re going to be here and we expect that they’ll be here.”

Bowlsby mentioned the court system as a potential remedy if either school tries to leave before 2025.

new media contract​

The media contract with Fox and ESPN runs through the 2024-25 season for the Big 12. This summer, the conference will start planning ahead to see where it will lend its media rights in the future.

Bowlsby indicated the conference is open to leaving Fox and ESPN for a different company. The Big 12 won’t necessarily box itself to only linear networks. It is also looking at streaming options as the media landscape changes.

"We’ll welcome a group of suitors out there and I think we will do well when it’s time to go to auction.”
Thanks for posting, Buck.

Really solid football, men's hoops and women's hoops. 3 time zones.

I may be all wrong but I just can't imagine there isn't some outfit out there who is looking to getting into the college athletics game (Google, Amazon, etc.) that isn't willing to shell out some very competitive dollars to this new Big 12 conference. By competitive I mean at least what the ACC is getting............at the very MINIMUM. Enough to put this newly configured conference into 3rd place among conferences and respective their financial situations.
 
Thanks for posting, Buck.

Really solid football, men's hoops and women's hoops. 3 time zones.

I may be all wrong but I just can't imagine there isn't some outfit out there who is looking to getting into the college athletics game (Google, Amazon, etc.) that isn't willing to shell out some very competitive dollars to this new Big 12 conference. By competitive I mean at least what the ACC is getting............at the very MINIMUM. Enough to put this newly configured conference into 3rd place among conferences and respective their financial situations.
The BIG 12 schools were getting the third best tv ratings out of all the conferences.

Of course the naysayers will say that Texas and OU drove those ratings but that isn't really accurate since the opposing schools also delivered viewers in those games. Also, one would expect that each BIG 12 school is going to attempt to land OOC games that could deliver similar ratings. The conference will also try to get some prime time games somewhere to drive better ratings--hard to rate at the top when you have so few of those to date.

Another thing to consider is that tv rights are going UP. The Big Ten is projected to go up from like $400 million to maybe over a billion $$$. So, the BIG 12 schools aren't going to be negotiating based on what they got in a contract signed in 2012, they will attempt to negotiate on what the going rates are. The remaining BIG 12 schools didn't rate less than half of what the Big Ten schools did on a per school basis, but even if they rated HALF, then their rights should double from where they are right now. That would put them ahead of ACC schools which won't renew until the 2030's and it may put them ahead of the PAC--of course the PAC has a rights negotiation coming up themselves, but they haven't rated as high as the remaining BIG 12 schools either. They certainly can't claim the remaining BIG 12 isn't competitive as the new and existing schools have lots of wins over the other P5 schools for several years running.

But it will be a challenge, especially if ESPN and FOX aren't in the running. We will just have to see how it works out in a few years and see if more realignment also happens.
 
The BIG 12 schools were getting the third best tv ratings out of all the conferences.

Of course the naysayers will say that Texas and OU drove those ratings but that isn't really accurate since the opposing schools also delivered viewers in those games. Also, one would expect that each BIG 12 school is going to attempt to land OOC games that could deliver similar ratings. The conference will also try to get some prime time games somewhere to drive better ratings--hard to rate at the top when you have so few of those to date.

Another thing to consider is that tv rights are going UP. The Big Ten is projected to go up from like $400 million to maybe over a billion $$$. So, the BIG 12 schools aren't going to be negotiating based on what they got in a contract signed in 2012, they will attempt to negotiate on what the going rates are. The remaining BIG 12 schools didn't rate less than half of what the Big Ten schools did on a per school basis, but even if they rated HALF, then their rights should double from where they are right now. That would put them ahead of ACC schools which won't renew until the 2030's and it may put them ahead of the PAC--of course the PAC has a rights negotiation coming up themselves, but they haven't rated as high as the remaining BIG 12 schools either. They certainly can't claim the remaining BIG 12 isn't competitive as the new and existing schools have lots of wins over the other P5 schools for several years running.

But it will be a challenge, especially if ESPN and FOX aren't in the running. We will just have to see how it works out in a few years and see if more realignment also happens.
Yeh. The new Big 12 will now encompass 3 time zones, which I've got to think is an advantage..........and a unique one to boot. With 3 time zones, the new Big 12 can have games scheduled from noon eastern time until the last games are scheduled late on a Saturday night. Having a Mountain Time Zone school enables the new Big 12 to be able to take advantage of this.
Also, the new Big 12 just picked up 3 new states, 2 of which are heavily populated and the other state contains a school (BYU) that has an excellent worldwide following.
My guess is if/when the new Big 12 locks schools in to a new media rights contract of several years that they will find that conference is STILL in 3rd place among the P5 conferences...........and probably well ahead of the ACC.
If the remaining schools manage their finances properly and do the other things - handle NIL, etc. - properly they should be able to be very competitive going forward.
Your thoughts, Buck, on my opinions? thanks
 
Last edited:
Yeh. The new Big 12 will now encompass 3 time zones, which I've got to think is an advantage..........and a unique one to boot. With 3 time zones, the new Big 12 can have games scheduled from noon eastern time until the last games are scheduled late on a Saturday night. Having a Mountain Time Zone school enables the new Big 12 to be able to take advantage of this.
Also, the new Big 12 just picked up 3 new states, 2 of which are heavily populated and the other state contains a school (BYU) that has an excellent worldwide following.
My guess is if/when the new Big 12 locks schools in to a new media rights contract of several years that they will find that conference is STILL in 3rd place among the P5 conferences...........and probably well ahead of the ACC.
If the remaining schools manage their finances properly and do the other things - handle NIL, etc. - properly they should be able to be very competitive going forward.
Your thoughts, Buck, on my opinions? thanks
It will really depend on negotiations with other media companies. Is NBC interested? CBS? Id have to think the ratings the remaining schools were able to generate have to count for something.

Parceling things out to multiple carriers following a Big Ten model could be key to better finances. The biggest problem is replacing the marquee OU game on the schedule for each school to get up into that 4 million viewer range. May develop in conference if enough prime time games but initially major OOC matchups are very important.
 
Here's another new interview with Bowlsby on things such as the CFP expansion, NIL, BIG 12 further expansion, UT and OU etc.

 
Bucky likes talking to himself so he can keep bumping up his empty threads.
 
More interesting Bowlsby thoughts:



“He added that there could be a shaving off of some of Division I and that it’s gotten too large. (That’s something the ongoing Transformation Committee could address)”




Chris Vannini
@ChrisVannini

·
Feb 25

Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby tells
@AspenInstSports
he believes schools breaking away from Division I or the NCAA is unlikely. “If 30 schools broke off, you’d take half of them that are traditional winners and they’d become traditional losers."


Chris Vannini
@ChrisVannini

·
Feb 25

He added that there could be a shaving off of some of Division I and that it’s gotten too large. (That’s something the ongoing Transformation Committee could address)


Chris Vannini
@ChrisVannini


This was part of a larger conversation with
@JonSolomonAspen
about the idea of college athletes becoming employees. Question was about the thought that schools could break away in order to professionalize some of their teams.
 
Last edited:
The BIG 12 schools were getting the third best tv ratings out of all the conferences.

Of course the naysayers will say that Texas and OU drove those ratings but that isn't really accurate since the opposing schools also delivered viewers in those games. Also, one would expect that each BIG 12 school is going to attempt to land OOC games that could deliver similar ratings. The conference will also try to get some prime time games somewhere to drive better ratings--hard to rate at the top when you have so few of those to date.

Another thing to consider is that tv rights are going UP. The Big Ten is projected to go up from like $400 million to maybe over a billion $$$. So, the BIG 12 schools aren't going to be negotiating based on what they got in a contract signed in 2012, they will attempt to negotiate on what the going rates are. The remaining BIG 12 schools didn't rate less than half of what the Big Ten schools did on a per school basis, but even if they rated HALF, then their rights should double from where they are right now. That would put them ahead of ACC schools which won't renew until the 2030's and it may put them ahead of the PAC--of course the PAC has a rights negotiation coming up themselves, but they haven't rated as high as the remaining BIG 12 schools either. They certainly can't claim the remaining BIG 12 isn't competitive as the new and existing schools have lots of wins over the other P5 schools for several years running.

But it will be a challenge, especially if ESPN and FOX aren't in the running. We will just have to see how it works out in a few years and see if more realignment also happens.
Buck, recently Big 12 teams have been receiving close to $40 Mill/season. If the teams get half from the Big 10 gets, what happens to that $40 Mill number? Your best guess. Does it go to $50 Mill? $60 Mill? Thanks
 
Buck, recently Big 12 teams have been receiving close to $40 Mill/season. If the teams get half from the Big 10 gets, what happens to that $40 Mill number? Your best guess. Does it go to $50 Mill? $60 Mill? Thanks
Impossible to know what they’d get since there are too many unknowns such as how rights might be broken up, what the landscape will be for rights in a few years, or even what the exact makeup of the conference may be at that time.

But even without UT or OU, what major conference has not received increases when their entire rights renew? Take a look at the increase for the SEC for just tier one rights for those CBS games and the increase the Big Ten gets for tier one and two rights, then consider ALL rights for the BIG 12 will be in play from their tier one two and three, the CCG and all sports too. There will be more teams but thats a lot more inventory to market too.

The other conferences have reset the marketplace for major college sports rights— the BIG 12 wont negotiate based on pre 2012 rights agreements more than a decade later.
 
Last edited:
I am all for an 8 game conference schedule. That is another auto win each league team can schedule. That will also increase top 25 teams as well. That strategy has worked great for other leagues over the years and is why you see so many mediocre SEC teams ranked every year.
 
I am all for an 8 game conference schedule. That is another auto win each league team can schedule. That will also increase top 25 teams as well. That strategy has worked great for other leagues over the years and is why you see so many mediocre SEC teams ranked every year.
Question is will they punish the BIG 12 unlike the other conferences if they aren’t playing multiple P5 schools OOC?
 
Question is will they punish the BIG 12 unlike the other conferences if they aren’t playing multiple P5 schools OOC?
I think they would for a little while but eventually if the entire league is winning an extra game a year that will bolster the league. It may also only hurt a team trying to make the playoffs like they did with TCU in '14.
 
I think they would for a little while but eventually if the entire league is winning an extra game a year that will bolster the league. It may also only hurt a team trying to make the playoffs like they did with TCU in '14.
Its definitely helped the SEC and ACC to only play 8 conference games--endless playoff appearances until Clemson had a down year last year for both conferences. Everyone playing 9 games has been left out multiple times--which illustrates how difficult a 9 game conference schedule is with strong OOC opponents on top.

I do think the BIG 12 should face off the two best teams for the CCG though.
 
  • Like
Reactions: denvEER
UPDATE on divisions: https://www.star-telegram.com/sports/college/big-12/texas-christian-university/article259362644.html

The Big 12 may not split into divisions once it expands, a source said. The belief has been that the conference would return to divisions once it grows to 14 teams in 2023-24 before dropping to 12 teams in 2025 after Texas and Oklahoma depart for the SEC. League officials and athletic directors met last week during the Big 12 basketball tournaments in Kansas City, and no decisions have been finalized. Three division models were presented and there wasn’t a consensus favorite among the group, according to a source.

Read more at: https://www.star-telegram.com/sport...niversity/article259362644.html#storylink=cpy
 
Stupid if they don't split. But I get why they don't just in case a crap team from the other division is 6-6 like the ACC and PAC normally has.
 
Having no divisions gives the membership the ability to play one another much more frequently, and also allows for the top two teams to meet in the CCG which is huge for making the playoffs. Might not get it if you have an ACC or SEC lite CCG where a non factor plays a decent team. Playing everyone more often gives your media partners a better shot at more compelling matchups every year. You don't want that Big Ten west bore fest.
 
The Big 12 is operating under the assumption that both the Longhorns and Sooners will stay in the league four more years. The current Big 12 television contract with Fox and ESPN ends in 2025. If not, both schools would be subject to what have been projected as nine-figure early exit fees for breaking the Big 12 grant of rights that bind schools' TV inventory to the conference.

Assuming BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF join ahead of the 2023-24 athletic year, the league would be at 14 teams for two seasons in 2023 and 2024. The Big 12 would then shrink to 12 teams in football, playing in six-team divisions beginning in 2025.

 
More BIG 12 expansion could be on the way:

The Big 12 seems likely to be a 14-team conference in 2023-24 and perhaps the year after that. But Mike Gundy says he believes the Big 12 could settle into a 14-team league even after OU and Texas flee to the Southeastern Conference.

“We could be at 14 very easily, five years from now, from what I’m hearing,” Gundy said Tuesday.

“I think there’s strength in numbers. When you watch this thing, the Big 12 always had some issues, because people would say, there’s only 10 (members).”

Gundy’s assertion is not groundbreaking. Others have mentioned further Big 12 expansion, including commissioner Bob Bowlsby.

“We’ll play with 14 for awhile,” Bowlsby told me awhile back. “Then we’ll fall back to 12, and we’ll reassess at that point. That could entail looking at targets for additional expansion, it could entail a strategy to get larger.

“I feel very good about the four that we’ve brought in.”

 
The Big 12 is operating under the assumption that both the Longhorns and Sooners will stay in the league four more years. The current Big 12 television contract with Fox and ESPN ends in 2025. If not, both schools would be subject to what have been projected as nine-figure early exit fees for breaking the Big 12 grant of rights that bind schools' TV inventory to the conference.

Assuming BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF join ahead of the 2023-24 athletic year, the league would be at 14 teams for two seasons in 2023 and 2024. The Big 12 would then shrink to 12 teams in football, playing in six-team divisions beginning in 2025.

Great job of intellectual property theft there Allen old boy!
 
How is that “theft” when he just copied a segment of the article and included the article in his post for everyone to see and give reference to CBS for it?
Root is an idiot and is only trying to stir the pot and start trouble.
 
This story that you tell me is boring and in general you did not impress me.

yawn-40.gif
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rootmaster
The BIG 12 schools were getting the third best tv ratings out of all the conferences.

Of course the naysayers will say that Texas and OU drove those ratings but that isn't really accurate since the opposing schools also delivered viewers in those games. Also, one would expect that each BIG 12 school is going to attempt to land OOC games that could deliver similar ratings. The conference will also try to get some prime time games somewhere to drive better ratings--hard to rate at the top when you have so few of those to date.

Another thing to consider is that tv rights are going UP. The Big Ten is projected to go up from like $400 million to maybe over a billion $$$. So, the BIG 12 schools aren't going to be negotiating based on what they got in a contract signed in 2012, they will attempt to negotiate on what the going rates are. The remaining BIG 12 schools didn't rate less than half of what the Big Ten schools did on a per school basis, but even if they rated HALF, then their rights should double from where they are right now. That would put them ahead of ACC schools which won't renew until the 2030's and it may put them ahead of the PAC--of course the PAC has a rights negotiation coming up themselves, but they haven't rated as high as the remaining BIG 12 schools either. They certainly can't claim the remaining BIG 12 isn't competitive as the new and existing schools have lots of wins over the other P5 schools for several years running.

But it will be a challenge, especially if ESPN and FOX aren't in the running. We will just have to see how it works out in a few years and see if more realignment also happens.
how much revenue does a game on ESPN+ generate versus a game on ESPN?
 
  • Like
Reactions: WVUALLEN
In the current contract espn can move games around and have put some tier 1 and 2 content on ESPN + from time to time. It does not alter the BIG 12s contractual payout.

EDIT: The participating schools/ conference received a significant bump for tier 3 rights a few years back.
 
Last edited:
Big 12 is now a top of the line G5 conference. The new AAC is the Big 12. The money will be cut in half.
 
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest posts

ADVERTISEMENT