Big 12 football powers Texas and Oklahoma could be packing their bags sooner for their SEC move. On Wednesday, the Big 12 announced plans to enter into early negotiations with Fox and ESPN for a new TV deal. As a direct consequence of such discussions, the Longhorns and the Sooners are discussing leaving for the SEC earlier than they had initially planned. Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports reported the details.
As a consequence of @Big12Conference starting negotiations early with rightsholders sources tell CBS Sports there are now active discussions regarding Texas and Oklahoma leaving early for the SEC.
— Dennis Dodd (@dennisdoddcbs) August 31, 2022
Texas football and Oklahoma are bound to the Big 12, which has a media rights agreement with ESPN and Fox set to last through the 2024 season.
The Longhorns and Sooners agreed to hold off their SEC move until the media rights deal expires, as they would have to cough up a hefty, nine-figure exit fee for breaking the conference's grant of media rights.
But things changed when the Big 12 realized it could potentially get a leg up on the Pac-12 by negotiating a TV deal early. Yes, the conference is set to lose the prestigious Texas and Oklahoma football programs.
However, knowing that the likes of BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF are on the way in, the Big 12 has enough muscle to withstand those losses- and appear as a more financially muscular partner for the likes of Fox and ESPN, then say, the Pac-12, which has yet to find a way to replace the losses of USC and UCLA.
Texas and Oklahoma would have to negotiate their potential breaking of the existing grant of media rights within the Big 12. And Fox, whose Big 12 deal relies upon the Longhorns and Sooners sticking around for three more years, would be losing out on a chunk of cash.
So many moving factors. It will be interesting to see what happens next.
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