Conference Things
CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodds reports that the Big 12 announced that it would enter contract negotiations with its media partners, ESPN and FOX. Interestingly, this doesn’t state that this is some sort of exclusive window like the Pac-12 said, just negotiations. Part of the discussions are Texas and Oklahoma leaving early, but those TV partners would need to be compensated.
In moving to open media rights negotiations, one industry source suggested the Big 12 was “joining [the] Pac-12 at the buffet.” The advantage for the Big 12 is that it will have 12 schools united going forward even after the departures of Oklahoma and Texas. It can offer rightsholders at least the perception of stability given BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF will be joining the league.
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Given ESPN lost out on bidding for the Big Ten rights, industry sources have indicated it can be somewhat of a “kingmaker” in deciding the future of the Big 12 and Pac-12.
ESPN needs games in the so-called “fourth window,” those which start starting after 10 p.m. ET. The Pac-12 could provide that, although not necessarily with those teams playing in their current conference. CBS Sports reported this summer the Big 12 was in deep discussions with Arizona, Arizona State and Colorado and Utah.
There is still a faction within the conference that wants to expand. However, industry sources have emphasized that any combination of Pac-12 and Big 12 teams does not bring in additional revenue on a per-school basis. Those sources valued the annual rights of programs in those conferences anywhere from $21 million to $35 million annually. The Big 12 will make $44 million per school in the final year of its current agreement.
Under its new monster agreement, Big Ten schools will make an average of $75 million annually.
I would probably be terrible at these negotiations because I’d be pretty steadfast in thinking that if you put live sports on the TV you’ll have lots of people watch, and the better the station, the more likely people will watch.
CBS Sports’ Shehan Jeyarajah reports on the new NCAA transfer protocols. The NCAA Board of Directors created transfer windows and also only allows the one-time transfer, although there is the possibility of waivers. This seems ripe for litigation.
AP’s Ralph Russo reports that the university presidents of the College Football Playoff are set to meet to discuss expansion from the four-team format:
The 12-team model, that included six conference champions and six at-large teams, had been worked on for more than two years by a group of four commissioners, including Greg Sankey of the Southeastern Conference.
Concerns about automatic access for certain conferences, how the Rose Bowl would fit into an expanded format and the health and safety of players competing in as many as 17 games were cited as reasons against the 12-team plan.
Failure to get agreement on expansion left Sankey and others frustrated. Expanding the playoff before the end of the current television deal has been estimated to be worth an additional $450 million in media rights to the conferences.
At the SEC meetings in late May, Keenum said the presidents wanted the commissioners to provide a plan for the next CFP format no later than June 2023.
Keenum also said then that the presidents planned to take a more active role in expansion talks and that he wanted them to meet again before the end of the summer to “continue the dialogue.”
Football
Texas Tech and Joey McGuire announced that Kobee Minor would wear the No. 3 jersey, that number to honor Luke Siegel, who died in August of 2021 after suffering a traumatic brain injury.
“Talk about someone who has taken his game to a new level, that’s Kobee Minor,” McGuire said. “We were very honest with Kobee this summer and said ‘you’re going to have to fight to keep that number’ and that’s what he did. That type of fight defined Luke Siegel, so, in a way, it’s almost perfect that Kobee honors his memory this season. I’m very proud of Kobee and what he’s done to make this team better.”