Five years ago, Oklahoma president David Boren stood at the construction site of a new campus dormitory and declared that the Sooners would be no "wallflower "during this second round of conference realignment. Boren's comments sent a clear message that Oklahoma was no longer necessarily committed to making the Big 12 work in the age of the Longhorn Network. That sudden shift destabilized the Big 12, ignited a panic throughout the league and prompted Missouri to jump ship for the SEC.
Five years later, the Big 12 faces another fork in the road. Once again, the Sooners are on the spot. Only this time, Oklahoma is loaded with leverage -- to dictate what happens to the conference's grant of rights, its composition and its overall future.
Two weeks ago, the conference authorized commissioner Bob Bowlsby to begin exploring the league's expansion options and start negotiating with prospective candidates.
Oklahoma's only motivation, however, would only be, well, an altruistic stance on greater Big 12 stability.
However, one industry insider, who worked directly with programming before recently leaving for another job in the industry, indicated getting the Big 12 schools to sign a grant of rights without offering anything in return will be a tough sell for the networks, even as they have to shell out up to $800 million to the league. More likely, to get a grant of rights extension, ESPN and Fox would have to put forward an immediate renegotiation of the Big 12's tier 1 and 2 deals, and pay the Big 12 up to the levels of the SEC and Big Ten. The Big Ten is now getting an estimated $250 million per year from Fox for only half of its rights.
If the networks put that on the table, the Big 12's viability for the next two decades would be virtually assured. But only if the Red River flagships signed off. If either balked against a proposal the rest of the conference supported, it could, once again, send a message to the other Big 12 members -- that the Sooners aren't completely committed to the conference.
"It might say, OU could begin flirting again," the insider said. "That they're not sure about the Big 12."
Of course, Boren could attempt to utilize this leverage for what's clearly become his white whale: a Big 12 network. The ACC previously implemented a clause in its agreement with ESPN that triggered the upcoming network launch. If the ESPN or Fox were unwilling to do yet another network deal now -- but still wanted a grant of rights extension to avoid competing with a Netflix or a Google for rights down the line in an ever-changing media landscape -- perhaps Boren could procure such clause on a future Big 12 network.
Still, given the current television climate, that could prove to be too ambitious.
Even then, Boren would still have the option to push back on Texas.
To get a new school into the conference, eight of 10 schools must sign off. It's hard to envision the Longhorns being able to get Houston into the Big 12 without Oklahoma's support. Boren could demand Texas sanction his expansion school of choice, in exchange for rallying northern support for Houston.
The Sooners have long believed to have had their eye on BYU, which has the strongest football brand of any non-Power 5 school. The Cougars also have a national following through the Mormon Church, and operate near Salt Lake City, a top-35 TV market. Boren also has shown interest in Cincinnati; he traded emails with then-Cincinnati president Santa Ono last year. Besides that, Boren could also press Texas to support a four-school expansion, which would net the conference an additional $50 million a year.
Just what lever will Boren pull? That remains unclear. What is clear is this -- he has a move to make.
Five years ago, those moves had a major impact on the direction of the league.
They figure to this time around once again.
Five years later, the Big 12 faces another fork in the road. Once again, the Sooners are on the spot. Only this time, Oklahoma is loaded with leverage -- to dictate what happens to the conference's grant of rights, its composition and its overall future.
Two weeks ago, the conference authorized commissioner Bob Bowlsby to begin exploring the league's expansion options and start negotiating with prospective candidates.
Oklahoma's only motivation, however, would only be, well, an altruistic stance on greater Big 12 stability.
However, one industry insider, who worked directly with programming before recently leaving for another job in the industry, indicated getting the Big 12 schools to sign a grant of rights without offering anything in return will be a tough sell for the networks, even as they have to shell out up to $800 million to the league. More likely, to get a grant of rights extension, ESPN and Fox would have to put forward an immediate renegotiation of the Big 12's tier 1 and 2 deals, and pay the Big 12 up to the levels of the SEC and Big Ten. The Big Ten is now getting an estimated $250 million per year from Fox for only half of its rights.
If the networks put that on the table, the Big 12's viability for the next two decades would be virtually assured. But only if the Red River flagships signed off. If either balked against a proposal the rest of the conference supported, it could, once again, send a message to the other Big 12 members -- that the Sooners aren't completely committed to the conference.
"It might say, OU could begin flirting again," the insider said. "That they're not sure about the Big 12."
Of course, Boren could attempt to utilize this leverage for what's clearly become his white whale: a Big 12 network. The ACC previously implemented a clause in its agreement with ESPN that triggered the upcoming network launch. If the ESPN or Fox were unwilling to do yet another network deal now -- but still wanted a grant of rights extension to avoid competing with a Netflix or a Google for rights down the line in an ever-changing media landscape -- perhaps Boren could procure such clause on a future Big 12 network.
Still, given the current television climate, that could prove to be too ambitious.
Even then, Boren would still have the option to push back on Texas.
To get a new school into the conference, eight of 10 schools must sign off. It's hard to envision the Longhorns being able to get Houston into the Big 12 without Oklahoma's support. Boren could demand Texas sanction his expansion school of choice, in exchange for rallying northern support for Houston.
The Sooners have long believed to have had their eye on BYU, which has the strongest football brand of any non-Power 5 school. The Cougars also have a national following through the Mormon Church, and operate near Salt Lake City, a top-35 TV market. Boren also has shown interest in Cincinnati; he traded emails with then-Cincinnati president Santa Ono last year. Besides that, Boren could also press Texas to support a four-school expansion, which would net the conference an additional $50 million a year.
Just what lever will Boren pull? That remains unclear. What is clear is this -- he has a move to make.
Five years ago, those moves had a major impact on the direction of the league.
They figure to this time around once again.
