Whoa whoa Holdup holdup holdup…. How does this affect Liberty and NMSU?
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They’re scroomed now 
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Stop right there…Nitwit (Person) is like Betelgeuse on here.
Post “Liberty and NMSU” 3 times and his endless bullsh-t restarts.
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I’ve been thinking the same thing. ESPN is moving to form new leagues that they control through the SEC and AAC to begin what will become D1-A and D1-B. Its a power play by ESPN to restructure the sport and control the market.
Forgive me in advance, but I’m going to call them ESPN instead of Disney. It’s just easier for me.
If what is being alleged is true and they have evidence, then I believe ESPN could be facing a very serious lawsuit for not just one, but several acts of tortious interference. I’d love to hear a tort lawyer weigh in, but this is potentially a serious deal in my opinion. But I’ll try my best to break it down as I see it.
First, you have the implied claim of tortious interference that Bowlsby is making again ESPN and the SEC for damaging the membership agreement between UT/OU and the Big 12 by working behind the scenes to make the deal. We all know that probably happened. It happens every realignment cycle, and the Big 12 would have complained but nobody would have thought twice about it otherwise. But there is a key question: how long has this deal been in the works, and has ESPN done anything that would damage the Big 12, unbeknownst to them, while they negotiated the agreement in secret?
But then, you (allegedly) have ESPN’s subsequent interference through the AAC. ESPN has contracts with all 3 conferences. When OU and UT announced they would leave, their contract with the Big 12 triggers exit fees and possible forfeiture of their rights to the remaining members of their conference. In the process, ESPN’s contract with the SEC becomes more valuable at the expense of the Big 12. The Big 12 is owed payouts and possible grants of rights from OU and UT, depending on when they leave.
ESPN then encourages members of the Big 12 to go to the AAC in exchange for an increased payout. By doing so, they again interfere with the contractual obligations between the Big 12 and its remaining members, but also potentially eliminate contractual damages that UT and OU would owe the remaining member schools.
There is another aggravating factor that makes this time potentially worse than previous, since many reasonable people would possibly agree that their approach to Big 12 schools was coercive. Since the number of teams they have approached would possibly result in the dissolution of the conference and permanent damage to anyone who didn’t accept an invitation to AAC, it can easily be argued that they didn’t just make an offer to the Big 12 schools, but also attempted to extort or coerce them into leaving, since there is the implied threat that another school would take their place if they refused, their conference would be destroyed anyway and they would have nowhere to go.
By attempting to dissolve the conference, ESPN would be further facilitating its deal to UT and OU to the SEC, since they could leave without paying penalties or granting rights, and could do so sooner, and therefore bringing even more value to its SEC contract.
But keep in mind that ESPN also has a contract with the Big 12 itself. So not only is ESPN making its contract with the SEC more valuable by interfering, but it is also attempting to nullify its own contractual obligations to the Big 12 by destroying the conference. Whatever payments the remaining members would be entitled to would be gone, as a direct result of ESPN’s involvement.
But wait, there’s more! Since ESPN doesn’t hold sole media rights to the Big 12, there could also be a tortious interference argument from Fox against ESPN, since they interfered with Fox’s contractual agreement with the Big 12 through tortious means.
Of course, we don’t know if all of this is true and under what specific circumstances. Nobody would be surprised at all if it is. But we will have to wait and see.
This has the potential to get nasty, especially since you have political power brokers involved who have a personal interest in these universities. Stakeholders in a business have a rational desire to make problems go away, but hell hath no fury like a college football fan scorned, and there may be some who will be looking for revenge.
All they have to do is get past a motion to dismiss, then you will have university presidents and ESPN executives taking depositions under oath and every document turned over in discovery. ESPN had better hope they can contain this if it’s true. If they did so by email like someone was claiming, then they are totally screwed.
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It’s all hot air from The big 12. UT and OU are gone. They just screwed themself with ESPN bye big 12
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I see it as CoogDU laid out
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I’m convinced that Mickey Mouse clubhouse is set in a post apocalyptic world where Mickey rules everything as a dictator. Think about it:
All tehnology, all buildings, all personal items are Mickey shaped. The only people you see not in Mickey’s crew are usually from outer space. Everyone is always chanting something strange, usually about or involving Mickey. He knows everything that’s going to be useful later, meaning he probably set up the entire plot himself to keep his underlings loyalty to him and his “all knowing ways”
Mickey is a manipulative dictator. Don’t let him lie to you.
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Okay. And then what? Take ESPN to court. And then what? Win the lawsuit. And then what?
Come back to ESPN for another contract in 2025? 
Hell, Fox probably wants out of this contract as much as ESPN.
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B12 scare SEC??? 
if the Big 12 was able to win that type of lawsuit it is 3X damages plus court cost and that would be about $1.95 billion on the low end
that covers a lot of years of AAC like $7 million dollar media deals
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What does Baylor have to lose? It’s not like ESPN is going to do them any favors anyway. ESPN is already trying to kick them and several other schools to the curb.
ESPN has been in financial trouble for several years. Disney posted a loss of almost 3 billion dollars last year alone. A lawsuit with potentially billions of dollars in damages and massive damage to their brand isn’t anything that any company can dismiss lightly.
I’m no defender of the B12. I would lose no sleep if they collapsed. But ESPN have been screwing over schools (including us) behind the scenes for years. They are more responsible than anyone for this mess.
Lol. Okay.
I look forward to seeing Disney paying out $2B in court.
Wake me up when that happens.
Disney generated $8B in cash from their current operations alone last year. They’re shaking in their boots about Baylor and Bowlsby.
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Big 12 ain’t going to win sh*t.
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We’re taking a look at the P&L for a cash discussion?
Of course they lost money last year. Everyone lost money last year.
Yet, Disney somehow managed to generate $8B in cash from their operations.
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this CBS article states that the Big 12 media deal remains whole as long as the Big 12 is viable
As long the Big 12 remains viable, ESPN and Fox cannot reduce the conference’s rights fees under the current contract.
it also states that even with one member the conference can still sue
In fact, the Big 12’s bylaws are written in such a way that – if there is even one member remaining – a program can individually sue any of the entities in this discussion – the SEC, the AAC or even ESPN.
Leaning on the “disinterested directors” clause in its bylaws, the Big 12 intends to make the migration of Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC as difficult as possible.
After losing four teams in the last round of conference realignment a decade ago, those bylaws were drafted in 2012 to stand for a period of 99 years. Texas and Oklahoma were part of the group who, according to one source, wanted the longest agreement possible.
That last round of realignment led to the Big 12 registering itself as a corporation in the state of Delaware. That helps prevent it from serving as a defendant in Texas where the University of Texas might have a legal advantage.
Can they just ban this Person cat already?
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Large companies lose lawsuits all the time
See Pennzoil Vs Getty that based on a hand shake and was two of the largest companies in the USA
What ever your Bears are f*cked. I hope the end up in the sun belt.
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Okay? And then what?
Actually, I hope they take this route. Let the remaining 8 be blacklisted. Would be fantastic if Baylor just disappeared.
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