Originally published at: https://pistolsfiringblog.com/bowlsby-now-alleges-aac-after-all-eight-remaining-big-12-schools-per-report/
It was once three to five, now it’s all eight.
No thanks.
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The big 12 will remain together for the next 2-3 years I think. Then after that who knows there’s going to be a lot happen between now and then but the pac 12 media rights will be up and there’s going to be a much a larger realignment period more than likely. I think this was OU and UT’s thinking all along, they wanted to assure their spots in the SEC before the PAC 12 comes up and USC and Oregon among others come up.
I’ve been a proponent of picking off some of the better AAC programs to keep the remaining Big 12 in place, and then finding a new media partner (Amazon Prime, etc.). However, the idea of all 8 remaining Big 12 teams joining the AAC is a non-starter under the current media rights deal in place between the AAC and ESPN. I’ve seen reports that each AAC conference member receives between $5 and $8 million from their TV package - that barely pays Gundy’s salary! Unless ESPN ups the payout to at least $30 million, it’s not happening.
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Today’s high noon epiphany:
Hold this league together. By the time '24-25 rolls around the concept of a “TV deal” will seem 50 years old. Entities like Amazon and Hulu and Netflix are going to be in the hunt.
Why not steal from ESPN? The Big 12 should initiate a “Big 12+” (blatantly borrowing from ESPN+) and have a subscription service. Essentially, the Big 12 creates it’s own network via streaming app. Not only can the conference sell advertising for games, but a second revenue flow (subscribers/audience) will be available. Sign me up now for $9.99/mo.! (You’ll have tens of millions of OU’s and Texas’s dollars to build this puppy.)
Forget FOX…forget ABC…forget ESPN. Keep the revenue! Create new and better flows of income!
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Couldn’t agree more - this is the best way forward.
Did we literally simultaneously post about this??? 
We did - great minds think alike!
The article discussing the potential pods in the combined Big 12/AAC is a bunch of wasted words. There’s no way the OkState Athletic budget survives on $7 million of revenue from the football TV media rights. Maybe if they fire every team’s coaching staff and replace them with high school coaches?
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I had read that it would be around 20 million
First I would love to see the Big XII say thanks but no thanks to OU and UT after this year.
I actually liked this watered down option. Having Navy and UCF isn’t bad.
Would love to know where you saw that. Was it just someone’s projection? Or could it be tied back to ESPN?
Sorry can’t remember it was a lil while a go. Seen so many lol
The Pac 12 experience would be instructive here. It’s a disaster.
Why wouldn’t the Big 12 go grab the AAC teams instead? Big 12 is still Power 5 while AAC is Group of 5, so why would the Big 12 not be the preferred destination here?
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Big 12 Conference realignment:
Pod A- Iowa State, K State, Kansas, Cincinnati
Pod B- Oklahoma State, Boise State, Texas Tech, Tulsa
Pod C- TCU, SMU, Baylor, Houston
Pod D- UCF, USF, Memphis, West Virginia
I’m all for the Big 12 drafting whomever it wants from the AAC into the Big 12 and convincing some to stay.
I still feel like it’s a watered down version of a P5 conference, but if it’s what we have left to deal with I’m for it. I personally would rather have BYU than Tulsa just because they are a little better program and they’ll generate more revenue. I just don’t see BYU and the politics of their university meshing with us though.
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I don’t think there will be a B12 in 2022. I think it will dissolve before then.
I like this idea a lot. I wonder if for our basketball games, because basketball would still have some brand power, if we could get a tv deal for that and then do this Big 12+ for football and any other sports they wanted to air? could potentially maximize all of your margins. Great idea though I like this.
The AAC is the preferred destination for ESPN because ESPN has the rights locked down for the AAC. If the “valuable” teams from the AAC defect to the Big 12, they share those rights with Fox.
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This straight forward antitrust issues. Fox needs to decide if they want to to stay and be a force.
This could be possible if the conference wants to add 8-12 teams to increase the market share and forces Texas/OU to payout the hundred or so million that it would need to get started. Thinking of the costs needed to start: website development, server maintenance and hosting, “tv” crew, recording equipment, announcers and analysts, advertising, etc. There’s so much that I think we take for granted when it comes to watching games and such, things like replays, aerial cams, and in general visual quality is handled by the networks. In no way is this an easy undertaking but if successful it could shake the foundation of sports broadcasting. Of course some of this could mitigated by partnering with an established streaming service (i.e. Amazon, Netflix, Hulu…) for a cost.