Texasrocks

Not so much a hot take as a steaming one.

There seems to be a huge benefit to staying one season. Not because of the buyout, but because of the $40 million TV payout per member. No one is going to get that elsewhere. Things get murky in a hurry after that. The buyout is the final 2 years of distributions. Texas and OU are staying this year so there's no reason the buyout would drop in year one. That's $80 million in year one (setting aside any legal challenges from Texas and OU). But next season, there's no way ESPN and Fox pay $40 million per school. Just for the sake of argument, let's use $20 million for a round and very generous number. That means the total buyout payment that each school would get is $15 million over two years. Not bad, but probably not going to keep anyone from looking around. But the payment for this upcoming year would. Teams can expect something like: Year 1: $50 million ($40 million for their share of the TV contract plus $10 million in buyout money) Year 2: $25 million ($20 million for their share of the TV contract and $5 million in buyout) plus whatever comes from Texas/OU grant of rights. Year one is an easy decision unless you know you can reserve a seat in the B1G and possibly the Pac 12. If more teams withdraw this year, everyone else is screwed. If not, the prisoner's dilemma kicks in for year two. You might get $25 million. You might be homeless. If I'm Texas/OU/ESPN, I offer $160 million to settle everything after one year. Each school gets $60 million next year ($40 million from TV rights plus $20 million in buyout money) and can immediately start looking for a new home. Schools would have a relatively straight forward decision - is $20 million worth the uncertainty that comes in year two? That's a shitty deal if all 8 schools can stick together and somehow win the ensuing legal battles. [Narrator: there's virtually no chance they all stick together and win the ensuing legal battles.] It's a fantastic deal if more schools withdraw soon and a decent deal if everyone can hang on for one year.

This is insane. He needs all 8 schools acting in unison and believing the others are going to stick to the plan. And then does a media blitz about one or more of them not sticking to the plan.

I see the Big 12 has reached the Jonestown phase of realignment.

You must really like the Kansas City airport.

Kate Beckinsale hasn't returned my phone calls. It'll be a long time before I even consider having sex with her! And by long time I mean several nano seconds. Also, I haven't slept or showered for a week on the off chance she calls.

Stooopid Texas! Getting suckered into taking more money, a better schedule, easier recruiting, and non bitch-ass conference mates. Fools!

OU's credit card is maxed out they it's putting the SEC on layaway?

The withdrawal fee is equal to the last two years a school would have been paid if they remained until the end of the deal. As soon as Texas and OU withdraw, the value of the league drops considerably. Wouldn't that be factored into the fee?

ESPN and Fox share the tire 1 rights. Fox has more games than ESPN, but ESPN has the championship games. They apparently rotate options for the championship, but Fox opted not to buy the 2021 and 2023 championship games. https://big12sports.com/news/2012/9/7/205680799 AGREEMENT FACTS Terms ♦ 13-year agreement. ♦ 2012-13 athletic season through 2024-25. Annual Football Coverage ♦ Every Big 12 controlled football game. ♦ ABC/ESPN: 19 games per year thru 2015, increasing to 23 games annually in 2016 (minimum 13-15 full national exposures via ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU or in combination with reverse mirror); maximum four-five games on ESPNU. ♦ FOX: Approximately 38 games with minimum of six contests annually on FOX broadcast and six games on a national cable outlet. ♦ Member Retained Game: One member-retained game, which must be carried on a FOX platform if returned. ♦ Television partners have a maximum four six-day picks between them per season. ♦ Minimum four Thursday games each season (including Labor Day weekend and Thanksgiving Day); and one Labor Day Sunday appearance. ♦ Maximum of four games scheduled for 8:15 p.m. local time starts per season with the following restrictions: no program required to play more than twice; host more than once; play consecutive weekends; and six-day pick only with Conference consent.

My lawn's not going to landscape itself.

What do people think goes on in these discussions? This isn't like some band insisting there be a bucket of fried chicken ready when we come off stage. I'm pretty sure the list of demands looked something like: Pay us a obscene amounts of money Provide non-horrible officiating Have a nice day

Ouch. That's gotta sting for the rest of the Big 12 to find out their combined annual worth is less than Texas' third-tier rights.

It's going to be awesome. And fuck you. I'm still pissed off about that Matt Jones game.

If this process has taught us anything, it's that A&M is going to do whatever the fuck it's told to do. As for pods vs divisions and the makeup of either, that will be driven by money. Texas and OU aren't joining the SEC to play regular games against Vandy and Mizzou. Texas vs A&M will draw a shit ton of viewers, which is the point of this whole exercise. I'd be shocked if they don't play every year. If we don't, it's because some alternative generates more viewership overall. It sure as shit won't have anything to do with what A&M wants.

I had the same thought and honestly, I can't tell which one would be funnier.

There's a huge difference between Alabama, LSU, Georgia, Florida, and Tennessee vs Tech, TCU, etc. Half of the SEC are (or think they are... cough, aggy, cough) Texas' equals. OU is our only peer in the Big 12. There's no power imbalance like the Big 12 or even the SWC. And before the ISU and TCU fans jump in, this isn't about wins and losses. Despite a crappy decade, Texas is still a massive draw for viewers. OU has won the conference 6 years in a row and yet Texas is still the top draw and the perception is that Texas is calling the shots.

One one hand, there is no logical reason for them to leave. On the other hand, aggy. It's a coin flip whether their stupidity or their impotence wins out.

Texas is coming. Bama doesn't love them. Now we just need LSU to hire away their "championship winning coach" and A&M's entire identity will be shattered.

In their defense, "AD" is their code word for aggy dumbasses. So you're both right.

On the bright side, they can now recruit JUCO players right out of high school and skip the middle man.

Are you suggesting that A&M is willing to embarrass themselves to claim moral victory? Because that would... be totally consistent with their entire existence.

Slightly different topic and it'll never happen, but move to 4 16 conferences, all of them organized by pods. Each conference has a tournament and the four champions get seeded by rank in a 4 team playoff. You could add a "losers" bracket and the highest rated teams from the non-Big 4 to give other conferences a chance. Alternatively, send all pod winners and reserve 4 spots for other conferences/the highest ranked teams that didn't win their pod for a 16 team playoff.

Yes. Both of these statements are true.