Timing of TV contracts expiration could delay Oklahoma’s move to the SEC

Despite speculation that the Sooners could move to the SEC as early as 2022, television contracts for the SEC and Big 12 could slow it down.

Since the initial report broke that the Oklahoma Sooners and the Texas Longhorns were exploring a move to the Southeastern Conference, speculation has run rampant about when a move might occur for the Big 12’s premier programs.

Many believe the Sooners could be on the move as early as 2022 despite being bound to the Big 12 through their media rights agreement through 2024. The two schools would first have to get out of their current media rights agreements. That could result in a penalty for breaking the contract, or other legal ramifications were the two schools to break their agreement early.

Pete Thamel, who covers college football for Yahoo Sports!, provided further details into the SEC’s media rights agreement.

While the Oklahoma Sooners and Texas Longhorns will be big draws in the SEC’s next media rights negotiations, the SEC is locked in through 2023. ESPN won’t have full broadcast rights for the SEC until the 2024 season, which happens to be the final year that the Sooners and Longhorns are contractually obligated to the Big 12.

As Thamel notes, the exit fees for the two exiting Big 12 schools is $150 million combined. That’s an amount of money that would make it very difficult for either University to justify giving the Big 12 to leave. Even with the promise of bigger revenues with the SEC, could they sell their boards and fans on the idea that in the long-term, they’ll make more?

That’s a difficult proposition.

Contracts can be renegotiated, though, again as Thamel notes, CBS, the current broadcast partner of the SEC, hasn’t shown a willingness to pay extra for big games in the past. So there’s a bit of uncertainty as to whether or not they’d give an expanded SEC more money to broadcast Oklahoma and Texas games. So the current 14-team SEC would have to be willing to share the money in their current agreement. It’s possible, but it would mean a smaller cut for each school in the short term.

Once the SEC’s current media deal is complete and the Oklahoma Sooners and the Texas Longhorns are officially a part of the SEC, it’s a whole new ball game. The future earnings in media rights deals will be astronomical. Who wouldn’t want the opportunity to broadcast Oklahoma vs. Alabama or Texas vs. Alabama every single year? That in addition to the already mammoth games the SEC puts on television on an annual basis. Then you throw in arguably the biggest rivalry in all of college football in the Red River Rivalry, and the SEC is going to be able to get whatever they want from the networks to broadcast their games.

Unfortunately, there’s no telling when this will all take place. There’s a lot of negotiating that will take place behind the scenes to make an Oklahoma and Texas exit more amenable for both the schools and the Big 12. But even after they come to an agreement that works for both sides, the SEC’s own media rights deal could prevent an OU-Texas migration to the Southeastern Conference.