The rumors that have been swirling surrounding the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Oklahoma bolting from the Big 12 Conference are true.
A joint statement issued by the universities on Monday notified the conference that they would not be renewing an agreement that binds the league’s members through 2025, taking their first formal step toward potentially joining the Southeastern Conference.
"The University of Texas at Austin and The University of Oklahoma notified the Big 12 Athletic Conference today that they will not be renewing their grants of media rights following expiration in 2025,” the joint statement reads. "Providing notice to the Big 12 at this point is important in advance of the expiration of the conference’s current media rights agreement."
"The universities intend to honor their existing grant of rights agreements," the statement continues. "However, both universities will continue to monitor the rapidly evolving collegiate athletics landscape as they consider how best to position their athletics programs for the future."
The “grant of rights” gives the conference control of the school’s media rights and runs concurrent with the Big 12′s television contracts with ESPN and Fox. Revenue from the Big 12′s TV deals make up the bulk of the $34.5 million the league distributed to its members this year.
The move signals a seismic shift in conferences and has drawn swift condemnation and backlash. On Friday, a group of Texas lawmakers filed legislation that would prohibit Texas public colleges and universities from switching athletic conferences without approval from the Texas Legislature.
“Although our eight members are disappointed with the decisions of these two institutions, we recognize that intercollegiate athletics is experiencing rapid change and will most likely look much different in 2025 than it does currently,” states Commissioner Bob Bowlsby. “The Big 12 Conference will continue to support our member institutions’ efforts to graduate student-athletes, and compete for Big 12 and NCAA championships. Like many others, we will use the next four years to fully assess what the landscape will look like in 2025 and beyond. The remaining eight institutions will work together in a collaborative manner to thoughtfully and strategically position the Big 12 Conference for continued success, both athletically and academically, long into the future.”
If the Big 12 can’t get Oklahoma and Texas to reverse course, expect the lawyers to take over. An early departure could cost the schools well over $100 million combined to get out of that grant of rights.
But a pot of gold awaits in the SEC and having the Longhorns and Sooners linger as lame ducks doesn’t have much upside for the Big 12.
There is a good chance that come kickoff of the 2022 college football season, Texas and Oklahoma will be in the Southeastern Conference.
The SEC signed a $300 million deal with ESPN last year that gives the network rights to all SEC football games starting in 2024 and is expected to bump the conference’s annual distribution to its members to about $68 million.
A projection done by Navigate Research, which does data modeling for professional sports leagues and college conferences, for The Athletic last year had the annual distribution gap between the SEC and Big 12 at about $16 million per team per year in the SEC’s favor by 2026.
That was under the assumption the Big 12 would still have Texas and Oklahoma.
The Aggies are not thrilled about the prospect of sharing the SEC with the Longhorns, who they were happy to leave behind when they left the Big 12 in 2011.
There will be complaints from board members and politicians, but Texas A&M will not play obstructionist as the SEC tries to complete this deal.
“Whoever joins, whatever that looks like, that’s what we’re ready for,” Texas A&M athletic director Ross Bjork told the AP on Sunday.
This is a developing story. Stay with Spectrum News for updates.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.