The Big 12 expansion groundswell

[YOhio]

More rumblings about Louisville and another school...

http://uoflcardgame.com/big-12-has-i...w-again/29990/

So glad Tom Holmoe will spend the next two days in Louisville. Hanging out with Tom Jurich and making a new best Big 12 friend will only help us.

[Viking]

My CA donor friend is of the personal OPINION that something will happen by June

[Jeff Lebowski]

My CA donor friend is of the personal OPINION that something will happen by June

That and five bucks will get you a ham sandwich.

[creekster]

That and five bucks will get you a ham sandwich.

Thats a good deal unless it is a crappy sandwich.

[Blueintheface]

That and five bucks will get you a ham sandwich.

I had something much less funny typed out.

[TripletDaddy]

My CA donor friend is of the personal OPINION that something will happen by June

[Blueintheface]

I was right to delete my initial post.

[kccougar]

http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=17&f=2759&t=8806523

Louiville board via the WVU board...

Let me be upfront right at the start -- this isn't what you call properly sourced. Ordinarily I have a couple of boosters that I get information from and one person that provides professional services for the university (nothing he shares is privileged or confidential, he just hears things being around). They all know my interest in WVU, so I generally get around to hearing things when it comes to BYU to the Big XII from them. I like to get similar info from at least two of these before posting, but this information was so detailed that I wanted to pass it along even though only one booster had it and none of the others could verify it. So, with that understood...


BYU is jubilent right now, and I am not just talking about the game last night (I'll admit it -- I bleed gold and blue but I was cheering like crazy by the end. Horrible basketball but tremendous game). The deal being negotiated with ESPN has an escalation clause, whereby the addition of certain teams allows for a mechanical increase in the value of the contract. ESPN has said, in effect, that if you add teams from this list (he called it the "cool kids list" and a "get out of jail free card"), the Big XII is guaranteed an increase of $2.05M per team so long as the final number of teams is 11, 12, 14, or 16. Apparently the 13th or 15th team don't provide $2M in value, but 13+14 or 15+16 provide $4M in value (something to do with inventory management). The list is not long, so every team on it has value to the Big XII and ESPN sufficient to cover their cost + $2.05M.


BYU is on the list. BYU thinks they would have a shot anyway, but they are expecting to be added in order to sweeten the pot for future additions. They think that the Big XII will take them at #11 or #12 to get the per-year deal up to ~$24M, which will help lure the other, bigger schools on the list (and he didn't know who they were, but I am going to use FSU and ND as an example because that is the example he used). Rather than take a potential $20M deal escalating to $24M to FSU and ND, they will add BYU and someone to then take a $24M deal escalating to $28M to FSU and ND.

The mechanics of this deal, as I think about it, are astounding. If that number is legitimate, then a Big XVI would be worth $32.3M even with the existing Fox contract. I can only see that happening if the rest of the teams on list are the FSUs, NDs, Clemsons, Miamis, and so forth. But you would think that with $32.3M per year (plus, if they could renegotiate with Fox) they could make a pretty good pitch for prying some quality teams free.

BYU supposedly negotiated with ESPN directly to be placed on that list, as there was some reluctance on the part of the Big XII to go west. But now that they are on the list, they are extremely confident that they will be part of the Big XII in the near future.


I hope this is true, so I can finally get to take my kids to a WVU game. We'll see.

[Clark Addison]

http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=17&f=2759&t=8806523

Louiville board via the WVU board...

BYU supposedly negotiated with ESPN directly to be placed on that list, as there was some reluctance on the part of the Big XII to go west. But now that they are on the list, they are extremely confident that they will be part of the Big XII in the near future.

If BYU is confident then I can't see how this can't happen! Unless their confidence compels them to start making demands . . .

IF this is true (big if), it will vindicate BYU's decision to hook their wagon to ESPN.

[Viking]

That and five bucks will get you a ham sandwich.

That ham sandwich is delicious!

[San Juan Sun]

I've spent some time reading the WVU and UL boards. Since its always a good idea to make snap judgements about large groups of people based upon message boards posts, I have come to a few conclusions:

1. Louisville fans are desperate, much like we are. Pessimism and hope are flip sides of the same coin as the invite game drags on.

2. WVU fans are interesting. Having just been welcomed into the Big 12 house, they are already laying on the couch in their underwear. You would they founded the Big 12, in sharp contrast to TCU fans who are happy to be along for the ride. Of course, WVU fans want eastward expansion, because they think regionally, rather than nationally.

3. Big 12 fans seem pretty cool. Some of the ones I've seen on UL/WVU boards have been on CUF and CB.

4. I am impressed with the free dissemination of (apparent) inside info on these boards. We always knew that CB was loaded with wankers full (of it) with generic/false/conjured info. But the difference between our insiders and theirs is striking.

5. Fans universally have a very narrow, biased view of what is possible/likely/sensible as far as realignment goes. In short, we have not cornered the market on talking out of our butts.

[Viking]

This is the greatest internet message board thread of all time!

[Green Monstah]

This is the greatest internet message board thread of all time!

Ballam gave a more dramatic interpretation of ol' scratch, but the other guy (don't know his name) is someone the young folks can relate to. He's just one of them.

[Uncle Ted]

Chip Brown on the Big 12's new ESPN deal...

I have confirmed with my sources that the report in the Sports Business Journal about the Big 12 being on the verge of agreeing to an extension with ESPN on television broadcast rights is right on.

The SBJ reported the Big 12 and ESPN would extend their current deal (which runs through the 2015-16 academic year) through the 2024-25 academic year and total $1.3 billion for the Big 12.

That would be on top of the $1.2 billion the Big 12 landed in a 13-year deal reached with Fox last April.

So the deal with ABC/ESPN would synch up the network (Tier 1) and cable (Tier 2) rights in the conference and should further solidify the league.

MY TAKE: I think there are a couple things to watch after talking to my sources:

I don't think the Big 12 will do anything in terms of expansion until the BCS commissioners resolve what the BCS is going to look like and that should happen by the end of this year.

The first big step in that process was the BCS commissioners meeting in Dallas last month to address the possiblity of a Plus-One (four-team playoff) in college football, etc.

So don't look for the Big 12 to make any bold moves in terms of adding a school like Louisville or anyone else until that all gets figured. Likewise, don't look for Notre Dame to make any decision on its non-football sports until that all gets decided as well.

I was told by one key source: "Don't look for Notre Dame to do anything until it absolutely has to."

But if the BCS commissioners do away with automatic qualifying conferences for the BCS and sets up some universal criteria that everyone can agree on, it will diminish the need to have certain numbers of schools in a league.

One other thing has become clear to me, the best candidate to be the Big 12 commissioner is Burke Magnus, the head of college programming at ESPN. The guy has all the contacts in all the conferences, the background in TV and the personality to lead the Big 12 as it goes forward.

Let's see... that is roughly $21M per team before any T3 money.

[Green Monstah]

Chip Brown on the Big 12's new ESPN deal...



Let's see... that is roughly $21M per team before any T3 money.

Screw Chip Brown. I'll stick with Viking's contacts and anonymous UWV sources.