The Big 12 ain’t dead yet.
The league, at risk of splintering and getting absorbed by the Pac-12 or other leagues, gained some much-needed stability for what was a murky future with a bold, six-year deal for media rights with ESPN and Fox Sports that is worth an estimated $2.3 billion and an annual average of $380 million.
The Sports Business Journal was the first to report the extension of the Big 12’s contract with its television partners before the current deal was to expire after the 2024-25 season. The average annual revenue for the current contract was $220 million. The new deal runs through the 2030-31 school year, which means it will expire before the SEC’s and ACC’s existing agreements run out.
Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte told the American-Statesman on Sunday afternoon that both Texas and Oklahoma “were apprised of the situation” even though the two flagship programs are set to leave the Big 12 and join the SEC no later than July 2025.
“No one should be shocked by this,” he said. “It’s a good deal for Big 12 schools.”
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Del Conte declined to speak about whether the television contract could expedite Texas’ and OU’s departure. The Big 12 has been very active since last summer’s blockbuster announcement that the Longhorns and Sooners were leaving.
Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione didn’t return a phone message.
It was no secret that new Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark, whose first day on the job was Aug. 1, was working hard to arrive at a deal ahead of the Pac-12 and perhaps force that league’s hand. He maneuvered quickly to sign new agreements that will pay each school about $32 million, although College Football Playoff revenue, bowl receipts and third-tier television rights could increase that to $50 million. Over the summer, the Big Ten worked out seven-year agreements with Fox/FS1, CBS, NBC and the Big Ten Network for a sum exceeding $8 billion for its 16 schools once USC and UCLA join.
By most accounts, the Big 12 figured to lose a lot of money with its media rights since the two most powerful and richest programs would be gone. Some even suggested that the league’s revenue could be cut in half.
However, former Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby reacted quickly and led expansion with invitations to BYU, Houston, Cincinnati and Central Florida, which will all join the league and begin play next fall.
The Sports Business Journal reported that the new deal will bring a 72.7% increase over the average annual value of its current deal, which started in 2012. The difference between the rights fees ESPN and Fox will pay from the last year of the old deal in 2024-25 to the first year of the new deal in 2025-26 is much more modest.
Sources told the SBJ that the Big 12 likes the idea that the shorter six-year deal that runs through 2031 means that the Big 12 will be back in the market ahead of both the SEC, whose deal with ESPN goes through 2034, and the ACC, whose ESPN deal expires in 2036.
For the top package, ESPN will get the top four football game picks each season, six of the top eight picks, eight of the top 12 picks and 12 of the top 20 picks as well as the rights to the Big 12 football championship game and the basketball tournament championship game. Fox’s package includes 26 football games per season that will run on the Fox broadcast network and FS1.
It should be noted that even though Texas and OU will leave after two more years at most, Baylor beat Oklahoma State in last year’s football championship game, and unbeaten TCU and Kansas State — Texas’ opponent this Saturday — top the latest Big 12 standings. Some think that could mean the league won't be as severely diminished as first thought.
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