Though the focus of the Big 12 now shifts toward equality -- the Big 12’s Board of Directors voted 8-0 last October to a formal grant of TV rights to the conference for at least the next six years -- it’s pretty much a given that the future stability of the Big 12 will still run through Austin, Texas, and Norman, Oklahoma.
Keep the two powers happy and the Big 12 can survive.
Of course, a little (or, a lot) more money in the bank account helps, and the Big 12 appears to be on the verge of making a big deposit.
The SportsBusiness Journal and Daily is reporting that the Big 12 is nearing a TV deal extension with ESPN that would earn the conference roughly $2.5 billion over the next 13 years when combined with the conference’s second-tier rights deal with FOX. The conference would reportedly make $1.3 billion from ESPN along with $1.2 million from FOX over the life of the agreement.
The Big 12’s current deal with ESPN runs through 2016 and the extension would take the partnership through 2025, same as FOX’s. The result of the extension would be an annual increase of $50 million (from $150 million to $200 million), which would equal roughly $20 million annually per Big 12 member.
As a reference, the Pac-12’s monster media rights deal from last year puts its members at a little under $21 million annually through the life of that 12-year agreement. Members from the SEC pulled in an average of $19.5 million in 2010-11. Keep in mind that the SEC will almost certainly revisit its media deals with the additions of Texas A&M and Missouri.
You can also view a breakdown of the Big 12’s old TV deal compared to other power conferences HERE, courtesy of the Kansas City Star.
The short story is that the extension puts the Big 12 more or less at the same financial level as the major power conferences in college athletics (Big Ten, Pac-12, SEC). The SBJ also notes, interestingly, that the extension could “end any discussion of the Big 12 expanding back to 12 teams.”
Looking at you, Louisville.