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The Big 12 are concerned that the American Athletic Conference (AAC) will actively try to take over the remaining eight league members once Texas and Oklahoma are officially accepted into the SEC, league sources told CBS Sports. It comes as Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby told CBS Sports that ESPN is leading an attempt to restructure college sports.
“I am absolutely certain [ESPN was] involved with the [American] trying to poach our members, ”Bowlsby told CBS Sports.
AAC Commissioner Mike Aresco did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
ESPN made the following statement Wednesday evening in reference to Bowlsby’s letter: “The claims in the letter have no basis.”
The Big 12 have clearly taken a fight to the death stance as their league’s two most powerful members are just steps away from joining the country’s most powerful conference.
In fact, the Big 12 statutes are drafted in such a way that – if only one member remains – a program can individually sue any entity in this discussion – the SEC, AAC, or even ESPN.
Relying on the “disinterested directors” clause of its statutes, the Big 12 intends to make the migration of Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC as difficult as possible.
After losing four teams in the last round of conference realignment a decade ago, these statutes were drafted in 2012 for a period of 99 years. Texas and Oklahoma were among the group that a source said wanted the deal as long as possible.
This latest round of realignment led the Big 12 to register as a corporation in the state of Delaware. This helps prevent him from serving as a defendant in Texas, where the University of Texas might have a legal advantage.
“Oklahoma and Texas are going to do whatever they can to get out of the licensing and out of the bylaws. It will be a long process,” Bowlsby told CBS Sports.
Bowlsby recently told the eight remaining Big 12 schools that his strategy was to fight to survive as long as they stayed together.
As long as the Big 12 remains viable, ESPN and Fox cannot reduce conference rights fees under the current contract.
The 12 grandes écoles each earn around $ 37 million per year. Industry sources told CBS Sports that the value of the Big 12 fell 50% to 75% with the longhorns and Sooners defections.
“The remaining eight schools have a lot of problems,” Bowlsby told CBS Sports. “They are coming out of a COVID year. They are coming out of a tough year on ticket sales.… If we stick together, I think we’ll have options. [in realignment]. “
While it’s reasonable to expect further consolidations in conference realignment, the Big 12 believes the conferences themselves should control this dialogue instead of what they see as undue influence from ESPN.
ESPN has exclusive rights to the ACC and will soon have those rights to the SEC. It shares Level I media rights with Fox for the Big Ten, Big 12 and Pac-12.
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