Last year the PUF handed out $1.1 Billion to UT and A&M, UT gets 2/3 and A&M 1/3. When you have that $ coming in every year, plus LHN, plus B12 media plus big donors, the $80mil buy out to go to SEC is chump change.
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I don’t think the issue was ever UT’s ability to write checks. It was OU’s ability to write checks that was in question, also UT’s willingness to spot them.
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I wonder if OU is privately asking donors for the $80M.
I am sure OU has a price they could pay to get out early, UT could pay theirs and ESPN or UT could pay the balance of OU. If it does not happen soon, the B12 schedule will come out with UT playing UH on UH campus.
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Whether they can or can’t pay the extra money to get out early is irrelevant.
All that matters is whether they have given 18-months notice of leaving early. To date, they have not. All they have said is that they are not renewing the GOR, i.e. they are reclaiming their TV rights in 2025.
They have about six months left to give notice of playing in the SEC in 2024. If they give notice by Dec 31, we have one year with them in the Big 12. If they don’t, we have two years.
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It reminds me of the guy that wants to buy a Corvette but still works at Jack in the Box. It has to be a bit embarrassing and more so once they actually begin SEC play.
“We dont have the money to play in a conference that we are going to get killed in” doesnt sound like clear thinking.
UT may be wanting to “hide” in the B12 a couple of years until they think they can win in the SEC. Losing to LSU and Alabama is one thing, but losing to A&M and Arkansas will sting, plus OU ouch.
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You are correct but their thinking was that the Big12 would collapse after their announcement to leave and therefore they would not owe any exit fee and can start SEC play as early as 2022.
Of course, things didn’t work out like OU, UT, SEC and ESPN thought it would.
It’s amazing what a cease and desist letter can do.
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Until ESPN decides not to bid on the big 12 contract.
It likely ain’t gonna be ESPN anyway. CBS, Amazon, or Apple are the front runners IMO
If that’s the case, the big 12 media deal is in trouble before the old one is done.
The only viable option of the ones you listed is CBS. And even then only if they offer to put a big 12 game on their over the air broadcast once a week.
ESPN is still the top dog. Without them we might as well be the PAC12 trying to find someone to buy our inventory.
That’s the true answer , UT waits it out 2 yrs to avoid being beat bad right away.
That’s the answer
We absolutely need ESPN’s attention if only to get the others (CBS, NBC, Turner, Fox) to bid up, just like we need the others to get ESPN to bid up. I don’t expect Amazon or Apple to be major players here.
Neither the Big 12 nor ESPN are going to let the realignment messiness get in the way of making the best possible deal they can. Folks are professionals and business is business.
I don’t think ESPN can really afford to blow us off because they need the ESPN+ content. How much that is worth to them I am not sure but they have a lot invested there and the SEC, ACC, and Big Ten will have their games spoken for with their conference networks. So it’s us and the Pac-12.
I don’t think we can blow off ESPN because even if we don’t end up with them we need them bidding the others up… but the road without signing with ESPN is much harder than the road with so while we can get by with a combination of alternatives I am hoping that’s not how things shake out.
You’re assuming that they will continue dominating the big 12
CDH has big 12 experience and knows what to expect
I think they had multiple assumptions, any one of which would have helped them, but which seem to have all been false:
- The GOR might not hold up or the value of it might end up getting folded into the exit fee, which could then be reduced as exit fees generally are.
- The Big 12 might not survive
- The Big 12, if it survived, would be desperate to cut a deal and get some money.
- The Big 12 would buckle under threats and bad publicity.
- ESPN and the SEC would feel the same sense of urgency they do and help out one way or another.
ESPN takes the long view. This all unwinds by 2025. No muss, no fuss, no lawyers, just a few extra dollars spent for the new kids in the Big XII.
No I think they will lose a bunch but it’s worse in the sec. The big 12 is gonna be tough. They go to Cincy and lose or Byu or us if we play them at tdecu and that’s just the newbies.
Big 12 has to be very progressive to get a similar deal to the current one or even an increase. That means likely going all in on digital for tier 2 and 3. Tier 1 will be the traditional networks, but even now we have tier 2 conference football games on digital. KSU vs OSU and ISU vs WVU come to mind immediately from last season. OSU was ranked in that game even.
And Amazon and Apple’s interest in tier 2 & 3 is legit according to ISU reporting. If we could get a MLS type deal where one of those over pays for all rights, you take it. MLS just got over 100% rights fee increase.
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