The reorganization of meetings has become an increasingly frustrating attempt to squeeze money out of systems that are top-level consolidating resources. The best brands and most of the money are in 32 teams of Big Ten and SEC, as well as networks that own major television rights (ESPN and Fox).
Everything else is the worst scenario for some sources in the Big 12 none It’s happening in the league. This means that after Texas and Oklahoma leave before the 2025 season, they will stay in 12 teams: BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF.
Some Big 12 athletic directors are worried that the dollar in media rights at the conference may not grow enough to add programs without reducing payments. Commissioner Bob Bowlsby, who retired last summer, testified that Texas and Oklahoma brought 50% of their rights to the league.
The same reality appears in Pac-12. Even in Oregon and Washington (the two best brand names still remaining among the 22 schools in Pac-12 and Big 12), there aren’t many conferences available.
calculate. There seems to be a consensus among key stakeholders that Big 12 and Pac-12 are worth somehow together, not separately.
“Let’s say that phlebotomy has stopped at SC and UCLA, where you can’t increase your rights because you lost it. [L.A.] The market. ” Bobby Hacker is a West Coast lawyer and sports media consultant who spent 18 years as Vice President of Business and Legal at Fox Sports.
The hacker goes on to say: “Now we have a Pac-12 with less valuable rights transactions than the Power Five Group. They have lost the LA market. There is no alternative team. And if you say,” I We’re going to get San Diego. ”The conference will be pushed back because there is no academic cash that the school had in San Diego or Fresno.
“If Oregon and Washington go, Katie closes the door. The option to my eyes is the Big 12 merger.”
It seems that the spirit of stand-down has emerged … for now.
Pac-12 is under exclusive negotiation with Fox and ESPN. The Big 12 continues to study expansion. Brett Yomark, the new Big 12 Commissioner, made the formula with his “open” comments on Media Day at his conference last week.
Big 12 wants to be more hip, younger and cooler. Iowa-There aren’t many hip, young and cool games in Cincinnati.
Conference reorganization news and notes
SEC president is not keen on moving beyond 16 teams At the moment. This suggests that Notre Dame’s decisions regarding the Big Ten are isolated and do not necessarily affect the SEC.
It refocuses attention on Oregon and Washington, The two biggest “available” parts. The reason they aren’t on the Big 12 list yet is because they believe they have big ten-centric options. One problem? Sources have told CBS Sports that neither ducks nor husky nor pairs bring enough value to the Big Ten (range between $ 80 million and $ 100 million annually).
Why is Oregon or Washington signing the grant with Pac-12, knowing that the conference is vulnerable, even if Big Ten isn’t open? In this way, the Pac-12 fell into this predicament. Former Commissioner Larry Scott signed a 12-year contract in 2012.
Some have suggested that no matter where the school ends up, if the final offer comes from Big Ten, it will be allowed to “out” the grant agreement. But why did the conference deliberately devaluate its main source of income?
For Pac-12, I don’t necessarily want to overuse ESPN or Fox The properties they have already decided on are far less valuable than the Big Ten and SEC. It’s also uncertain that ESPN will acquire one of Big Ten’s secondary rights. If they don’t have the Big Ten, it probably opens their pockets for the expansion of the College Football Playoff, the next major college right is traded in Dockett (after Pac-12 and Big 12).
“I’ve refocused on my thoughts. I don’t think I’m actually talking about college sports through the NCAA, Power Five lenses,” said the hacker. “University sports are now fully controlled by ESPN and Fox.”
“It’s definitely not an iron wall.” Mittwinter, a sports lawyer in Kansas City, made this stay on the granting of ACC rights. This is related to continued anxiety that the conference school is $ 50 million behind the Big Ten and SEC each year. He continued: “It would be costly to sue it and try to get out of it with uncertain consequences. I don’t really want to take part in the fight. If they get out, They just agree. Some kind of monetary settlement, it will be a huge number. “
That number is estimated to be in the range of $ 100 million to $ 500 million. Clemson, Florida, Miami, North Carolina, and Virginia are the programs most often mentioned as candidates for other conferences.
“There is absolutely no definite loophole in granting rights,” Winter added.
The ACC has a large debt from the Big 12 in shaping the grant of rights, sources told CBS Sports. The agreement holds Texas and Oklahoma in the league throughout the 2024 season. Winter said he entered when drafting the Big 12 document. This is a PDF Of the original Big 12 grants signed in 2012. Notification of “agree” and “agreement to membership” that members have been together for 99 years.
However, this is different from the actual grant of rights. In the actual grant of rights, the school leaving the meeting is required to pay the income share for the last two years. In this case, both Texas and Oklahoma owe about $ 90 million to leave early for the SEC. Now you have an idea of why both schools have committed to the Big 12 throughout the period of their agreement to this day.
If you want to be a conspiracy theoristPlease consider that the reorganization of this round may result in one less major meeting. This means that the increased playoffs can guarantee one less spot. The original 12-team playoff expansion proposal, which was rejected in January, included the top six conference champion spots. The merger of two powers or the collapse of one power creates greater opportunities for the big ten and SEC large spots.
It was an underestimated angle when the Big 12 rebuilt itself, whether or not it remained in the Power Five after being rebuilt at the Group of Five Schools last year. It may be answered in real time. If the Pac-12 is somehow absorbed by the Big 12, it helps to reinforce the case of being a Power for League.
Is there a temptation to distribute uneven playoff shares to the leagues under the Big Ten and the SEC in just four major meetings? Currently, the Power Five conference is contracted to receive the same amount (about $ 57 million each) through a 12-year CFP contract that expires after the 2025 season. Five teams in 65 groups split $ 83 million.
Another example of that expanding gap: With the addition of USC and UCLA, the estimated annual value of Big Ten transactions is now approximately $ 1.2 billion annually. This means that current Pac-12 rights need to increase nearly 2.5 times ($ 600 million a year) to reach them. half Although Big Ten earns. In the latest rights trading, the total MLB contracts increased by 19%. The NFL has increased that right by 63%. The Pac-12 needs to inflate its rights by 240% to reach half of the Big Ten.
“They aren’t going to get there,” said one executive about the Pac-12.
This kind of difference between leagues affects the ability to hire the best coaches, academic counselors, mental health professionals (for example, Ohio has sport psychologists in each of 36 sports), nutritionists, and strength coaches. Give. To get started.
