Texa$-ou leaving a year early

zone2poke

Deputy
Watch out for that doorknob.


The Big 12 announces that the Conference has agreed in principle to terms with the University of Oklahoma and The University of Texas at Austin to leave the Conference following the 2023-24 athletic year, one year earlier than originally announced, subject to final approval from the OU and UT governing Boards. Compensation to the Conference for the early withdrawals of the two schools totals $100 million in foregone distributable revenues, which OU and UT will be able to partially offset with future revenues.
 
Wonder how much E$PN is greasing the wheels within the conference to make the move happen. Also, Gundy got it right.
 
So ESecPN conceded enough to make Fox happy. Now that 2 of the top 3 items on Yormark's agenda have been completed, time for #3, conference expansion. There's certain to be lots of rumors about this over the next few months.
 
Based on the pace of the Pac12 media deal conversations, I think we will know in the next couple of months if we will be poaching teams or not. My hunch is that the Big 12 is not done growing.
 
Based on the pace of the Pac12 media deal conversations, I think we will know in the next couple of months if we will be poaching teams or not. My hunch is that the Big 12 is not done growing.

I'm not convinced we will be adding anyone. I see some conflicting sides to the stories.

  • First the most talked about schools, the 4 corner schools have strong ties to California and their schools. Colorado gets research dollars from Cal and there are a lot of Cali transplants in Boulder. The Arizona's have a huge alumni base in California. They have history there, etc.
  • I would say no schools are leaving the PAC unless it's a last resort. Depending upon the school, that could be any number of things (tired of dealing with UO and UW, instability, less media money, etc.). UO and UW do not want a long term GOR. You know their eyes are on the B1G. B1G isn't interested right now, but that isn't stopping UO and UW from trying, from everything I see and read. It's not a good position to be in when you have two members actively working to leave the conference.
  • Evidently a media partner has pushed for more inventory which is why the PAC is pursuing SDSU and SMU. If a 10 school PAC is worth $25 million a school, I can't imagine SDSU and SMU would be worth a full share. They would dilute the payouts if distributed evenly. I cannot see UO and UW accepting that unless there are unequal payouts or maybe it's just SDSU and SMU with a reduced payout. If those two are worth $10 million a year, would the other 10 schools give up $3 million each and now be $8 million behind the Big 12 schools? That's just an estimate of course.
  • What is the threshold for the first PAC school to bolt? $8, 10, 12, 15 million? If one bolts, is that enough for more?
  • It also seems odd for the PAC to go east and pickup just one school. We did it with WVU, but they were a P5 school, it made slightly more sense. If I were the PAC and wanted SMU, I would also look at Rice and Tulane.
  • I think the 4 corner schools have all the leverage. Basically, if the PAC doesn't do right by us, we have a landing spot and we're not afraid to leave. They don't have to hold the rest of the conference hostage, just make sure they get a fair deal.
  • As far as PAC schools go, I'm not interested in seeing Cal, Stanford, Oregon or Washington in the conference. I don't mind playing them, just not interested in dealing with their baggage.
 
I'm not convinced we will be adding anyone. I see some conflicting sides to the stories.

  • First the most talked about schools, the 4 corner schools have strong ties to California and their schools. Colorado gets research dollars from Cal and there are a lot of Cali transplants in Boulder. The Arizona's have a huge alumni base in California. They have history there, etc.
  • I would say no schools are leaving the PAC unless it's a last resort. Depending upon the school, that could be any number of things (tired of dealing with UO and UW, instability, less media money, etc.). UO and UW do not want a long term GOR. You know their eyes are on the B1G. B1G isn't interested right now, but that isn't stopping UO and UW from trying, from everything I see and read. It's not a good position to be in when you have two members actively working to leave the conference.
  • Evidently a media partner has pushed for more inventory which is why the PAC is pursuing SDSU and SMU. If a 10 school PAC is worth $25 million a school, I can't imagine SDSU and SMU would be worth a full share. They would dilute the payouts if distributed evenly. I cannot see UO and UW accepting that unless there are unequal payouts or maybe it's just SDSU and SMU with a reduced payout. If those two are worth $10 million a year, would the other 10 schools give up $3 million each and now be $8 million behind the Big 12 schools? That's just an estimate of course.
  • What is the threshold for the first PAC school to bolt? $8, 10, 12, 15 million? If one bolts, is that enough for more?
  • It also seems odd for the PAC to go east and pickup just one school. We did it with WVU, but they were a P5 school, it made slightly more sense. If I were the PAC and wanted SMU, I would also look at Rice and Tulane.
  • I think the 4 corner schools have all the leverage. Basically, if the PAC doesn't do right by us, we have a landing spot and we're not afraid to leave. They don't have to hold the rest of the conference hostage, just make sure they get a fair deal.
  • As far as PAC schools go, I'm not interested in seeing Cal, Stanford, Oregon or Washington in the conference. I don't mind playing them, just not interested in dealing with their baggage.
These are good counterpoints, but the Pac 12 targeting SMU and SDSU tips their hand--its not a strong one. Based on leaks, we are looking at a15m/year difference. 15m is too much for most of the schools to pass up and it will only take a couple schools jumping to get wheels in motion for the others.
 
Back
Top