http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=5286816
QUOTE
let’s consider why Texas stayed in the Big 12 and led Texas Tech, OU and Oklahoma State to do the same. (More on Texas A&M in a bit.) There are only four letters you need to know: E-S-P-N.
The media goliath lost out on the recent bidding war for the NCAA Basketball Tournament, so the boys in Bristol had extra cash to spend. Moreover, ESPN – despite making a big push to pour out billions for an Olympic Games contract (shoving aside NBC) – is poised to make money from a content-delivery arrangement with Xbox Live, as noted by Sporting News blogger Andy Hutchins Monday morning via Twitter. ESPN, despite its many expenditures, was clearly willing to overpay for a huge Big 12 football deal.
Why? Fox and Fox Sports Net were on the verge of partnering with the (would-be) Pac-16 Conference in a wide-ranging TV deal that would have included a Pac-16 Network akin to what the Big Ten Network has created. ESPN wanted to fend off a resurgent Fox at any cost. More specifically, ESPN wanted to deny Fox the market penetration it would have achieved with a Pac-16 contract. Fox and FSN could have gained broadcast rights to the Pacific, Mountain and Central time zones in a Pac-16 setup. The Fox umbrella of networks would have gained the Denver market (Colorado) as well as the Texas-Oklahoma infusion and the old West Coast stand-bys, with the Los Angeles market serving as the major prize. The thought of USC-Texas or USC-Oklahoma championship games in four or five years had to whet Larry Scott’s appetite and give Fox the market foothold it’s been looking for in the college football world.
QUOTE
let’s consider why Texas stayed in the Big 12 and led Texas Tech, OU and Oklahoma State to do the same. (More on Texas A&M in a bit.) There are only four letters you need to know: E-S-P-N.
The media goliath lost out on the recent bidding war for the NCAA Basketball Tournament, so the boys in Bristol had extra cash to spend. Moreover, ESPN – despite making a big push to pour out billions for an Olympic Games contract (shoving aside NBC) – is poised to make money from a content-delivery arrangement with Xbox Live, as noted by Sporting News blogger Andy Hutchins Monday morning via Twitter. ESPN, despite its many expenditures, was clearly willing to overpay for a huge Big 12 football deal.
Why? Fox and Fox Sports Net were on the verge of partnering with the (would-be) Pac-16 Conference in a wide-ranging TV deal that would have included a Pac-16 Network akin to what the Big Ten Network has created. ESPN wanted to fend off a resurgent Fox at any cost. More specifically, ESPN wanted to deny Fox the market penetration it would have achieved with a Pac-16 contract. Fox and FSN could have gained broadcast rights to the Pacific, Mountain and Central time zones in a Pac-16 setup. The Fox umbrella of networks would have gained the Denver market (Colorado) as well as the Texas-Oklahoma infusion and the old West Coast stand-bys, with the Los Angeles market serving as the major prize. The thought of USC-Texas or USC-Oklahoma championship games in four or five years had to whet Larry Scott’s appetite and give Fox the market foothold it’s been looking for in the college football world.
