The biggest question facing college football since the news broke that Oklahoma and Texas would be leaving the Big 12 for the SEC has been when they would make that move official.
Media rights obligations have the Oklahoma Sooners and the Texas Longhorns contractually bound to the Big 12 through the 2024 season. However, the prevailing thought is it wouldn’t take that long for the Red River Rivals to make their move to the SEC.
In the last couple of months, a report from The Athletic stated that the Sooners and Longhorns were eyeing a move in 2024. That timeline would make sense, considering 2024 is the first year of the new media rights agreement between the SEC and ESPN. Coming on board before that would mean a restructuring of the dollars allocated to the SEC to include Oklahoma and Texas.
The thing that has always made the most sense is a buyout agreement that allows the outgoing Big 12 schools to make the move prior to the media rights agreement concluding.
Speaking to the media at Big 12 media days, incoming Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark indicated he would be open to a discussion with Texas and Oklahoma that would result in a win-win for both sides of the negotiation.
“They’ve been very gracious with me. They were part of the process of me getting hired,” Yormark shared on his relationship with administration at Oklahoma and Texas. “So, I appreciate the support that I received but any situation like this, I always look for a win-win scenario. That being said, it’s important that whatever happens is in the best interest of this conference. But I look forward, at the right time, to have those conversations.”
The issue will certainly be timing and money. What’s in the best interest of the Big 12, and namely the Big 12’s new commissioner is coming to an agreement with the outgoing schools that brings in the most money for the remaining member schools. Whatever buyout Yormark negotiates will have to reflect what the conference could have earned from having the two outgoing schools as part of the Big 12 until 2025 and probably a little bit more to provide extra incentive for the remaining Big 12 members to approve the early exit.
Yormark enters the fray at an interesting time in the history of college football and with the Big 12 in a pretty solid state moving forward. With a new media rights agreement on the horizon for the conference and the pending departures of Oklahoma and Texas, how Yormark handles these two negotiations will determine the strength and longevity of the conference moving forward.
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