Texas, Oklahoma reach out to SEC about joining conference

[Lobot]

I read that this is all just for appearances. This way Texas and OU can claim as that they tried to fufill their contract obigations and acted in good faith. In the meantime, they're either going to hope that league folds completely, which lets them off scott free, or they'll work towards a settlement amount.

The rumors I have heard today is that the SEC is already working on scheduling that includes Texas and Oklahoma for next season. Apparently the Longhorn Network and ESPN play a factor in this as well; somehow these two schools will have their financial burden of any settlement due offset by this. (Maybe ESPN pays them a bunch of money to end the Longhorn contract early?)

This. It'll happen next year. Texas and OU(?) will buy out the Big 12 deals with the money that ESPN owes Texas for the Longhorn Network. I think that number is $135M. This makes everyone happy and LHN ceases to be a ginormous cash drain on Disney.

[MDW79]

I was surprised to see the request was to join July 1, 2025. That is ballsy. I can envision OU and Texass saying, "We will not give back any tv revenue because we'll stay in conference until the GoR expires. If you don't like it, come beat us on the field." Add in the earlier info that the 8 remaining schools only have as many people watching as AAC games and it's going to mean that the next Big 12 tv contract will be drastically reduced. With this in mind, should the Big 12 extend invites to join that begin in 2025, I think we would have to respectfully decline. There will end up being four super conferences and the Big 12 will not be one of them.

I read that this is all just for appearances. This way Texas and OU can claim as that they tried to fufill their contract obigations and acted in good faith. In the meantime, they're either going to hope that league folds completely, which lets them off scott free, or they'll work towards a settlement amount.

The rumors I have heard today is that the SEC is already working on scheduling that includes Texas and Oklahoma for next season. Apparently the Longhorn Network and ESPN play a factor in this as well; somehow these two schools will have their financial burden of any settlement due offset by this. (Maybe ESPN pays them a bunch of money to end the Longhorn contract early?)

[red_n_black_attack]

Oklahoma and Texas have formally requested invitations to join the SEC in 2025

I was surprised to see the request was to join July 1, 2025. That is ballsy. I can envision OU and Texass saying, "We will not give back any tv revenue because we'll stay in conference until the GoR expires. If you don't like it, come beat us on the field." Add in the earlier info that the 8 remaining schools only have as many people watching as AAC games and it's going to mean that the next Big 12 tv contract will be drastically reduced. With this in mind, should the Big 12 extend invites to join that begin in 2025, I think we would have to respectfully decline. There will end up being four super conferences and the Big 12 will not be one of them.

[Bearcats1232002]

I'm not up to date nor have I followed all the politics that have come with all this conference realignment so I admit I'm coming to the conversation unarmed. So it was alluded to earlier that ESPN was probably the or at least a driving forces behind it and that ESPN is biased against UC. So why is that is? The last realignment saw that UC and UConn were left outsides looking in. Then I remember just awhile ago that the big 12 was rumored to be looking to add two teams but then was just a smoke screen or the conference just couldn't get behind the new additions. And then UConn just recently found themselves a new home in an elite conference. So tell me why a Louisville whose history is replete with infractions ( which is a pet peeve of mind) or a West Virginia, TCU or even Xavier a more desired program than UC. I am smart enough to realize that ultimately its the dollars that determines these things so there is that . But I'm also thinking that this newest development in the Big 12 is precipitated by this new NIL allowance. It just cant be coincidence that this is happening on the heels of this newest benefit to this student athlete as I seem more opportunities in the SEC than in the Big 12 for endorsements. I'm seeing these conferences will look at Houston now with their recent success and of course Sampson's name and UC left with holding the bag again.

As far as Xavier goes, they just got lucky that the Big East fell apart. They obviously can't get into a power 5 conference since they don't have football. They happened to be in the right place at the right time because the Big East is the perfect conference for them. I will give then credit for one thing: they made sure they were prepared for such an opportunity if it arose. They upgraded their facilities and kept winning. We have been doing the same thing now for awhile but it is about timing. If we end up on the outside looking in maybe we should focus a little more on basketball. If the dollars aren't there then why stay in the arms race? That is basically what Uconn did. They threw in the towel on power 5 aspirations and refocused on basketball.

[made_hand]

So this might be a little off topic, and it probably a bit crazy as well, but I wanted to see what you guys thought of this...

For conversation's sake, let's assume we're headed towards two Super Conferences, a Mega Conference, or some semblence of a system that leaves UC and a number of these other teams (Baylor, TCU, Texas Tech, the rest of the AAC, etc.) on the outside looking in. And let's assume as a result, the money we see from our newly formed conference's network deal pales in comparison to the larger ones.

Would it be nuts if the conference cut out the networks entirely, and went to selling their product directly to the consumer via streaming packages? I realize there would be a lot of overhead to cover at first, and securing talent to deliver a decent broadcast would be expensive. But in the long run, I think it might provide a way to come out way ahead.

Imgaine if they sold access to the games individually, essentially pay per view, at say 5 bucks. Imgaine if the sold team packages for a seaon at say 50 bucks. Imgaine if the sold an entire conference package, which cover both football and basketball, for say $14.99 a month or 150 bucks total. Imagine if numerous conferences (Ex: ACC, AAC, MWC, MAC,ect.) pooled all of their resources together and offered all of their access in one gigantic bundle. Then imagine all of the advertising dollars these conferences would keep for themselves. I'd be very curious to see how these numbers would shake out for a conference in comparison to what they get from ESPN or Fox..

Obviously the argument against this is ESPN is included with cable, and a lot of people pay for it even if they don't use it to watch certain team or any sports at all. But our conference is seeing pennies on the dollar of that 11 bucks a month or so that ESPN is taking up on a cable bill. And you don't even get access to all of the games anymore. You either need to spring for an extra 6 bucks a month for ESPN+, or they're not on at all.

Like I said, this is probably nuts. Maybe stupid even. But I know I for one would GLADLY pay for a streaming package that goes directly to my team and it's conference. And I think a lot of others would too. I also think ESPN is going to continue to lose subcribers, and that most people under 50 abhor cable. Maybe this could be a very proactive way to get ahead of the curve. Obviously there's network (ABC, CBS, FOX) considerations here too but I still think this could work.

i would just love to see a lot of this blow up in ESPN's and these power hungry school's faces. I'd love to see the conferences that are left out coming out ahead by getting away from traditional media, while ESPN is left holding the bag on overvalued contracts. I'd be more than happy to go out of my way to support whatever schools are left out of all of this and never give a dime to these other providers again.

I think that is essentially ESPN+'s business model.

[MDW79]

So this might be a little off topic, and it probably a bit crazy as well, but I wanted to see what you guys thought of this...

For conversation's sake, let's assume we're headed towards two Super Conferences, a Mega Conference, or some semblence of a system that leaves UC and a number of these other teams (Baylor, TCU, Texas Tech, the rest of the AAC, etc.) on the outside looking in. And let's assume as a result, the money we see from our newly formed conference's network deal pales in comparison to the larger ones.

Would it be nuts if the conference cut out the networks entirely, and went to selling their product directly to the consumer via streaming packages? I realize there would be a lot of overhead to cover at first, and securing talent to deliver a decent broadcast would be expensive. But in the long run, I think it might provide a way to come out way ahead.

Imgaine if they sold access to the games individually, essentially pay per view, at say 5 bucks. Imgaine if the sold team packages for a seaon at say 50 bucks. Imgaine if the sold an entire conference package, which cover both football and basketball, for say $14.99 a month or 150 bucks total. Imagine if numerous conferences (Ex: ACC, AAC, MWC, MAC,ect.) pooled all of their resources together and offered all of their access in one gigantic bundle. Then imagine all of the advertising dollars these conferences would keep for themselves. I'd be very curious to see how these numbers would shake out for a conference in comparison to what they get from ESPN or Fox..

Obviously the argument against this is ESPN is included with cable, and a lot of people pay for it even if they don't use it to watch certain team or any sports at all. But our conference is seeing pennies on the dollar of that 11 bucks a month or so that ESPN is taking up on a cable bill. And you don't even get access to all of the games anymore. You either need to spring for an extra 6 bucks a month for ESPN+, or they're not on at all.

Like I said, this is probably nuts. Maybe stupid even. But I know I for one would GLADLY pay for a streaming package that goes directly to my team and it's conference. And I think a lot of others would too. I also think ESPN is going to continue to lose subcribers, and that most people under 50 abhor cable. Maybe this could be a very proactive way to get ahead of the curve. Obviously there's network (ABC, CBS, FOX) considerations here too but I still think this could work.

i would just love to see a lot of this blow up in ESPN's and these power hungry school's faces. I'd love to see the conferences that are left out coming out ahead by getting away from traditional media, while ESPN is left holding the bag on overvalued contracts. I'd be more than happy to go out of my way to support whatever schools are left out of all of this and never give a dime to these other providers again.

[Lobot]

TV numbers deep dive from Stewart Mandel. ($)

Mandel: Big 12’s TV numbers explain divide between Texas, Oklahoma and the rest — and why remaining 8 should worry
https://theathletic.com/2731657/2021...shared_article

For anyone who can’t read this, The general gist is that the schools in the Big 12 minus UT and OU average about the same TV ratings as AAC games.

[Lobot]

TV numbers deep dive from Stewart Mandel. ($)

Mandel: Big 12’s TV numbers explain divide between Texas, Oklahoma and the rest — and why remaining 8 should worry
https://theathletic.com/2731657/2021...shared_article

[GoBearcats31]

Oklahoma and Texas have formally requested invitations to join the SEC in 2025

[Bearcat93]

I have to say, the older I get, my interest in sports seems to migrate to lower levels as the money thing just changes everything. At some point, I may just stick to walking down the street to our local high school and support a variety of team for 5 bucks a game where there’s at least a decent amount of commitment and more balanced sports focus

[red_n_black_attack]

UC’s long term home will be big east 2.0 (ACC after it gets raided by Big Ten/SEC) or Big 12 2.0 (current composition of Big 12 schools).

The end game is for the SEC and Big Ten to poach the PAC 12 and ACC, there isn’t anything left of value in the AAC and Big 12.

UC’s long term home will be a step up from AAC, but juuust outside the grownups table.

I hope you're not right, but I see the tea leaves heading in that direction. The B!G has already been linked to UVA and UNC per rumor mills the past few years. It does beg to question if the Gators would allow another Florida school to enter the SEC, though many SEC states have two teams. FSU or Miami to SEC, or perhaps Clemson.

As for where will UC end up, it isn't clear, but it will not be in a power conference, whatever that will mean when the SEC and B!G take the top teams. Let's face it, the PAC-12 was already losing ground to Big 12 and AAC as a power conference, so the Big 12 folding might be their only shot at staying relevant. UC will end up in a fairly competitive football conference that serves us well in basketball, and all other sports, but the gap in TV revenue will be larger than it is today between where we land and the top two (SEC/B!G).

Yes Virginia, conference realignment sucks!

[bobestes]

UC’s long term home will be big east 2.0 (ACC after it gets raided by Big Ten/SEC) or Big 12 2.0 (current composition of Big 12 schools).

The end game is for the SEC and Big Ten to poach the PAC 12 and ACC, there isn’t anything left of value in the AAC and Big 12.

UC’s long term home will be a step up from AAC, but juuust outside the grownups table.

With the monopoly ESPN has with B10, SEC & CFP,
the 2 super conferences will form to feed it. The fact that state governors and other politicians are so embedded in these decisions doesn’t help. UC has a particular problem with its TV market-it’s dominated by the same school that will, with the state political office support, keep OSU king. I think I’ve personally been a bit naive thinking a school can raise its academic profile, win consistently, have a good TV market (Cincinnati is 37) and have great facilities to find its way to a great conference. No, it’s more about an intricately woven system of greed keeping the rich connected through political back room influence, all funded by our tax dollars.
UC will find itself in Conference USA 2.0 after
Houston goes PAC 12 with Ok St & Texas
Tech. Kansas and Iowa St are likely going B10.
While not an AAU member, I wouldn’t be surprised if UCF gets a look for B10 to get into the FL market. That leaves TCU, Baylor and K-State to join the AAC. Not sure we wind up any better, maybe worse if Houston leaves.

[Bearcats1232002]

With the monopoly ESPN has with B10, SEC & CFP,
the 2 super conferences will form to feed it. The fact that state governors and other politicians are so embedded in these decisions doesn’t help. UC has a particular problem with its TV market-it’s dominated by the same school that will, with the state political office support, keep OSU king. I think I’ve personally been a bit naive thinking a school can raise its academic profile, win consistently, have a good TV market (Cincinnati is 37) and have great facilities to find its way to a great conference. No, it’s more about an intricately woven system of greed keeping the rich connected through political back room influence, all funded by our tax dollars.
UC will find itself in Conference USA 2.0 after
Houston goes PAC 12 with Ok St & Texas
Tech. Kansas and Iowa St are likely going B10.
While not an AAU member, I wouldn’t be surprised if UCF gets a look for B10 to get into the FL market. That leaves TCU, Baylor and K-State to join the AAC. Not sure we wind up any better, maybe worse if Houston leaves.

You may be right except for Houston. I can't see Houston going to the Pac12.

[Bearcat93]

With the monopoly ESPN has with B10, SEC & CFP,
the 2 super conferences will form to feed it. The fact that state governors and other politicians are so embedded in these decisions doesn’t help. UC has a particular problem with its TV market-it’s dominated by the same school that will, with the state political office support, keep OSU king. I think I’ve personally been a bit naive thinking a school can raise its academic profile, win consistently, have a good TV market (Cincinnati is 37) and have great facilities to find its way to a great conference. No, it’s more about an intricately woven system of greed keeping the rich connected through political back room influence, all funded by our tax dollars.
UC will find itself in Conference USA 2.0 after
Houston goes PAC 12 with Ok St & Texas
Tech. Kansas and Iowa St are likely going B10.
While not an AAU member, I wouldn’t be surprised if UCF gets a look for B10 to get into the FL market. That leaves TCU, Baylor and K-State to join the AAC. Not sure we wind up any better, maybe worse if Houston leaves.

[Lobot]

Conference realignment sucks…..($)

Vannini: Conference realignment sucks, and it’s taking away what we love about college football
https://theathletic.com/2729122/2021...shared_article