• The KillerFrogs

Median Big 12 $$ Distribution: $41.4 million

That's the number from the 2019 Big 12 fiscal year (2018-2019), comes from their recent tax returns. Highest in the league was Texas at $55 million, matching the Big 10, and lowest was Texas Tech at $39.5 million.

TCU came in right at $40.5 million.

Keep in mind, starting with the just completed 2020 fiscal year, everyone except OU and Texas will see their Tier 3 deals roll into the primary TV contract and ESPN's payment structure through the end of our current deal, which is expected to be a net 0 impact for the conference as a whole.

Here's the per team data, with Tier 3 TV estimates included so you can get a good comparison, plus the matching distributions from the other major conferences. Again, as we've said for years, TCU and the Big 12 are doing just fine when compared to the ACC and Pac 12, and being at 10 solid members has really paid off.

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MAcFroggy

Active Member
Thanks. This is great information. I have always heard the $6M figure for OU, but where were you able to get that figure? Are we sure that is just the TV portion of their tier 3 rights?

Obviously the ACC will have ACC network in the future. Any guess as to how much that will add to their numbers?

Thanks again for compiling this.
 

MAcFroggy

Active Member
We need a big 12 network.

To be fair their is the Big12Now of ESPN+. But honestly, we have very little content that ends up on tier 3 compared to larger conferees. We have sold all but one football game per school in Tier 1/Tier 2 contracts. That does not give us a lot of content for a conference network. Some basketball games are still Tier 3, but the vast majorty of games (almost all conference games) were already on ESPN,ESPN2. or ESPNU.

Yes, it would give us a place to stash baseball, softball, gymnastics, etc, but there is just not really a lot of money generated from those programs.
 
We need a big 12 network.

This was looked at extensively, and the Big 12 moved on. There just isn't an appetite, nobody would pay us for it. That's the simple fact. Not having a network is better than having a self-funded Pac 12 network too, which is a massive headwind for the Pac.

The Big 12 is experimenting with a digital network, owned by ESPN via ESPN+, to help with exposure and collective bargaining to get more for their Tier 3 rights than the schools can do independently. For this to be successful, we will need OU and Texas to buy in, and so far they haven't. OU has a deal with Fox Sports that goes through 2024. I've been told in the last year that that deal will not likely be renewed, as Fox prefers OU move to the Big 10 but otherwise isn't interested in OU's Tier 3 rights at the current expensive price. As I've mentioned in other places, I don't expect Fox to be a major player in the next Big 12 media deal, probably just a minor player or non-player.

Texas is harder... Their deal with ESPN goes into the 2030s and they have no interest in killing it unless they get $/$ (or more) in compensation consideration. This poses challenges as, for example, it would mean the Big 12 would have to distribute some TV money on more of a weighted basis vs their current more balanced methodology, and many of you will remember this was one of the major pretenses for the destruction of the former-Big 12.

There are a number of different paths this could go, but my current guestimate is that ESPN will effectively "buy out" the Longhorn Network in the Big 12's renewal, the Big 12 members will agree to some weighted distribution in TV money to appease OU and Texas to stay, and ultimately all will make out just fine. However, there are a LOT of hurdles there that aren't small, so it's possible the outcome will just be to let the Longhorn Network deal simply run its course.

It's all good at the end of the day, and the Big 12 is still sitting pretty, but the league and its media partners have lots to figure out.
 

Mean Purple

Active Member
This was looked at extensively, and the Big 12 moved on. There just isn't an appetite, nobody would pay us for it. That's the simple fact. Not having a network is better than having a self-funded Pac 12 network too, which is a massive headwind for the Pac.

The Big 12 is experimenting with a digital network, owned by ESPN via ESPN+, to help with exposure and collective bargaining to get more for their Tier 3 rights than the schools can do independently. For this to be successful, we will need OU and Texas to buy in, and so far they haven't. OU has a deal with Fox Sports that goes through 2024. I've been told in the last year that that deal will not likely be renewed, as Fox prefers OU move to the Big 10 but otherwise isn't interested in OU's Tier 3 rights at the current expensive price. As I've mentioned in other places, I don't expect Fox to be a major player in the next Big 12 media deal, probably just a minor player or non-player.

Texas is harder... Their deal with ESPN goes into the 2030s and they have no interest in killing it unless they get $/$ (or more) in compensation consideration. This poses challenges as, for example, it would mean the Big 12 would have to distribute some TV money on more of a weighted basis vs their current more balanced methodology, and many of you will remember this was one of the major pretenses for the destruction of the former-Big 12.

There are a number of different paths this could go, but my current guestimate is that ESPN will effectively "buy out" the Longhorn Network in the Big 12's renewal, the Big 12 members will agree to some weighted distribution in TV money to appease OU and Texas to stay, and ultimately all will make out just fine. However, there are a LOT of hurdles there that aren't small, so it's possible the outcome will just be to let the Longhorn Network deal simply run its course.

It's all good at the end of the day, and the Big 12 is still sitting pretty, but the league and its media partners have lots to figure out.
The ACC and BIG 10 networks are doing well. Because they have brand teams. Much like the Big 12.
I have had to deal with the media for most of my career. And most I have talked to about this indicate there is a very good demand for the product.
 

Froggish

Active Member
The ACC and BIG 10 networks are doing well. Because they have brand teams. Much like the Big 12.
I have had to deal with the media for most of my career. And most I have talked to about this indicate there is a very good demand for the product.

I feel like as a whole our brand content has more value on the open market than pulling it into a network and hoping we can sell it ourselves.
 
The ACC and BIG 10 networks are doing well. Because they have brand teams. Much like the Big 12.
I have had to deal with the media for most of my career. And most I have talked to about this indicate there is a very good demand for the product.
The SEC and ACC and BIG 10 have found it to be a financial windfall.

The ACC Network is absolutely NOT a financial windfall for the conference, not in any comparable way to the SEC Network and Big 10 Network. I know the numbers, this is a fact. ESPN and the ACC finalized that network for other reasons and in a few years the ACC member school fans and board members will be chirping again as they realize it isn't going to be what they thought.

The Big 12 does not have the eyeballs or the IP that the SEC or Big 10 has, it just doesn't, and as I've said I'm telling you they looked at starting a linear network and were flatly told by all parties that there was little to no interest or funding available for it. Again, just a fact.
 
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