With eye on SEC, Oklahoma, Texas move toward leaving Big 12
Oklahoma and Texas took the 1st formal move Monday toward going to the Southeastern Meeting, notifying the Major 12 they would not be renewing an settlement that binds the league’s customers via 2025.
The universities sent out a joint assertion that designed no point out of the SEC and said “the universities intend to honor their current grant of rights agreements.”
“However, the two universities will continue on to observe the promptly evolving collegiate athletics landscape as they look at how ideal to situation their athletics applications in the long term,” the universities said.
The “grant of rights” provides the convention handle of the school’s media rights and runs concurrent with the Major 12′s television contracts with ESPN and Fox, which expire in 2025.
The Major 12’s Tv set specials make up the bulk of the conference’s revenue. The convention dispersed $345 million to its 10 customers this yr ($34.five million apiece), down from the earlier yr simply because of the pandemic.
The SEC introduced an regular payout to each of its customers of $44.six million in January.
Texas and Oklahoma have been in discussions with the SEC about becoming a member of the league, while neither college nor the powerhouse convention has acknowledged that publicly.
Joining one more convention with the grant of rights continue to in result is a nonstarter. Texas and Oklahoma would carry no value to their new convention and it would cost the universities tens of millions of pounds for each yr.
The Major
The Major 12 introduced Sunday that its govt committee, together with Commissioner Bob Bowlsby, held a video convention with the presidents of Texas and Oklahoma.
The remaining 8 Major 12 universities — Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State, Oklahoma State, TCU, Baylor, Texas Tech and West Virginia —- are continue to hoping to persuade the conference’s flagships universities to keep set.
“The conference was cordial, and the govt committee expressed a willingness to examine proposals that would improve the convention and be mutually helpful to OU and UT, as nicely as the other member establishments of the convention,” Bowlsby said in a assertion. “I anticipate that we will continue on our conversations in the days forward and we search ahead to speaking about ideas, ideas and ideas that may well be of shared fascination and influence.”
Devoid of Texas and Oklahoma, the Major 12 is in hazard of slipping aside. Even if it have been to keep with each other by incorporating other universities, the value of the league would probably be seriously diminished when it goes looking for its up coming television contract.