The Big 12 expansion groundswell

[TripletDaddy]

the way the article is worded makes it seem that all new teams are valued equally. So adding Florida state and Clemson will have the same initial economic benefit as adding Louisville and BYU...2mm per. There is no renegotiation if the B12 were to convince a Notre Dame to join up. It is all 2mm.

Does anyone know what the ACC exit requirements dictate in terms of notice, fees, etc? That is a pretty attractive enticement, at least in terms of cash.

[Uncle Ted]

Chip says there is smoke...

Just talked to a couple of my sources who say it's too early to say everyone in the Big 12 is 100 percent on board with anything. Expansion could very well happen, but last week I was told it's too early to say anything definitively simply because the new commissioner (Bob Bowlsby) hadn't even unpacked his boxes yet.

These conversations will take on new significance at the conference meetings in a month. There's definitely smoke around expansion talk in the Big 12. We are monitoring it.

[TripletDaddy]

Looks like brown chip is back in form. After months of expansion rumors, he confirms that there is some talk about expansion. Thanks, brown chip.

[Uncle Ted]

Brian Etheridge, the mod over on the Baylor site, is saying the Big 12 will expand to 14 teams in five weeks from now.

[Surfah]

Brian Etheridge, the mod over on the Baylor site, is saying the Big 12 will expand to 14 teams in five weeks from now.

14 teams?

[Uncle Ted]

14 teams?

Yes, 10 + 4 = 14 teams or schools.

[San Juan Sun]

14 teams?

Clemson, Florida State, Lousiville, and Cinncinnati.

[Green Monstah]

Clemson, Florida State, Lousiville, and Cinncinnati.

[Surfah]

Yes, 10 + 4 = 14 teams or schools.

Thank you Viking.

[LiveCoug]

That escalating payment structure makes no sense to me. The more teams the Big 12 invites, the more money each team makes? Huh?

Why not have 24 teams in the conference and make 40 million a team! NMSU, your problems are solved!

[Green Monstah]

That escalating payment structure makes no sense to me. The more teams the Big 12 invites, the more money each team makes? Huh?


Why not have 24 teams in the conference and make 40 million a team! NMSU, your problems are solved!

My guess is that there are explicit limitations on who can enter the conference and a cap on the number of teams.

ESPN definitely bears some risk, but their worst-case scenario is having TCU, Tech, Baylor, or T.Boone U veto big-named schools from entering the conference for competitive disadvantage reasons (really, if you're Tech, do you want FSU in the conference, and now competing for Texas recruits, beating you year after year, etc.? I don't think so...unless you get extra money. So, not only is the pie not split an additional way; but you get more money for increasing conference size.

Of course, it's a huge risk if the three teams who come in are Cincy, Louisville or BYU; but great reward if you can poach ACC/SEC teams to increase the profile of the conference.

[Uncle Ted]

My guess is that there are explicit limitations on who can enter the conference and a cap on the number of teams.

ESPN definitely bears some risk, but their worst-case scenario is having TCU, Tech, Baylor, or T.Boone U veto big-named schools from entering the conference for competitive disadvantage reasons (really, if you're Tech, do you want FSU in the conference, and now competing for Texas recruits, beating you year after year, etc.? I don't think so...unless you get extra money. So, not only is the pie not split an additional way; but you get more money for increasing conference size.

Of course, it's a huge risk if the three teams who come in are Cincy, Louisville or BYU; but great reward if you can poach ACC/SEC teams to increase the profile of the conference.

I have to assume that ESPN/Fox will have a pretty good say on which teams get invited given the kind of money they are putting out. Like you said this kind of money will most likely turn a few heads of teams in the SEC and ACC. (Sorry Mizzou, you're not welcome to come back. Arkansas, maybe, given an enough time has passed.)

[Jacob]

That escalating payment structure makes no sense to me. The more teams the Big 12 invites, the more money each team makes? Huh?

Why not have 24 teams in the conference and make 40 million a team! NMSU, your problems are solved!

It makes perfect sense with a cap of 16 teams. First of all, ESPN certainly has negotiated the rights to the conference championship game if they go to 12 teams. That gets them the money to give each school and additional $2m. Beyond that, the benefit to the networks seems smaller, but there is still some benefit as the value of the first and second tier rights increases as the networks have more games to choose form. They are only televising the quality games and there are likely more of those if you have more quality teams. Considering who they are left with (Iowa St., Kansas, Kansas St, TCU) I would suppose there is ample reason to think the networks favor expansion rather than having a conference with 40% of the teams that don't interest a national audience. This of course assumes that the expansion would be for teams that can bring higher ratings, and it could be that ESPN/Fox has already given them a list of approved teams, or that they hold veto power.

[TripletDaddy]

FSU and Louisville?

http://miami.cbslocal.com/2012/05/08...d-the-big-xii/

FSU would open up the fertile recruiting grounds of Florida to the conference, but more importantly, it would open the Tampa, Orlando, and Miami television markets to the conference, which would greatly extend the conference’s reach and boost television revenue.

FSU would play under a much more lucrative contract in the Big XII than what the ACC has to offer. Plus, if the divisions in the Big XII were reestablished, it’s possible the Seminoles could replace Missouri in the Big XII North, which would almost guarantee them a path to the championship game every year.

The Big XII was looking at expansion once the deal was cut with the new TV contract. The other school expected to be on the Big XII radar is Louisville. The Cardinals have been rumored to be interested in the Big XII for months, but so far nothing official has come out.

If the Big XII Conference were to expand and add FSU and Louisville to the conference, the divisions could look something like this: Big XII North – FSU, Louisville, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, and West Virginia; Big XII South – Baylor, Texas, Texas Tech, TCU, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.

[YOhio]

FSU and Louisville?

http://miami.cbslocal.com/2012/05/08...d-the-big-xii/

I'm not a fan of either of those additions.