From the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
ESPN and FOX, who have 13-year agreements with the Big 12 that run through 2025, aren't ready to talk about a new deal when the ones in place still have four years to go.
That was a message Big 12 presidents, chancellors and athletics directors heard on a Zoom video conference Monday with a media consulting group it enlisted months ago, Tech President Lawrence Schovanec said.
Schovanec, Texas President Jay Hartzell and West Virginia President E. Gordon Gee formed a three-man committee in the fall of 2020 to study "whether we should consider acting preemptively with regard to our TV contract," Schovanec said, "or just waiting and going into free agency when that contract is up in 2025."
With assistance from the Big 12, they enlisted the consulting firm Bevilacqua Helfant Ventures (BHV).
"The general result is that, at this time, with so much uncertainty in the media marketplace as well as the landscape for collegiate athletics," Schovanec said, "our partners, ESPN and FOX, are not interested in acting preemptively with regard to our contract. They recognize the importance of our partnership, but there's just too much uncertainty, and they do have four years to go.
In December, the Southeastern Conference agreed to a 10-year contract with ABC and ESPN to begin in 2024, taking away valuable football content that has belonged to CBS since 1996. The Atlantic Coast Conference's 20-year agreement with ESPN goes through 2036.
In recent years, the Big 12's annual revenue distribution to member schools has ranked third in terms of payout behind the SEC and the Big Ten, but ahead of the Pac-12 and the ACC.
The presentation on Monday came during two days of virtual Big 12 meetings. On Tuesday, Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby told The Dallas Morning News the conference's annual distribution to member schools for this fiscal year will average $34.5 million — for the second year in a row a decrease related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Big 12 distribution announced in May 2019 averaged about $38.8 million per school, and the annual payout announced in May 2020 decreased to an average of $37.7 million per school after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, ending a 13-year streak of annual payout increases.
"So we'll wait until we get to the right place and time."
Starting in 2023, a number of major conferences and professional sports leagues will have their rights deals coming up for renegotiation and renewal.
The Big Ten's six-year contract with CBS, FOX and ESPN expires in 2023. The Pac-12 has a 12-year contract with ESPN and FOX that runs through 2024. The College Football Playoff's agreement with ESPN goes through the 2025 season (early 2026 bowl games).
The Athletic, in a story last June, noted that between now and 2024, deals also will come up for the NFL, Major League Baseball's package with ESPN, the NHL and UEFA Champions League.
So the Big 12 investigated whether it could start early on laying the groundwork for a new agreement.
"We were charged with this task in the fall," Schovanec said, "and we've had a number of meetings, and (Monday) BHV presented the outcome of all that we've learned. It's a really extensive report. That report included an analysis of our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
"I think acting preemptively might give you a longer-term contract at some financial cost, and so nobody right now is in position to do that.
"It was still a very worthwhile exercise. We've learned a lot. I think it's been very instructive to the presidents to have a better understanding of all the issues that you face in the sports-media marketplace as well as the college sports landscape."
Adding to the uncertainty, and the factors the conferences and their rights holders must consider, is how sports content will be distributed in the years to come. College football and basketball fans have gotten used to watching their teams on network and cable television, but new avenues and players could emerge.
The Athletic noted, for example, that Amazon, Apple, Google or DAZN could want a piece of the action by the time conferences begin negotiating their next deals.
Texas Tech fans have become plenty familiar with viewing games on ESPN+, the streaming service launched in 2018.
"We've spent a considerable amount of time going over all of the issues that we face right now," Schovanec said, "as we transition from what was more or less the wholesale market with this distribution in cable TV and such to a more retail market, direct to consumer. It's very much an evolving situation, so we're going to sit tight for a while and keep monitoring the situation."
ESPN and FOX, who have 13-year agreements with the Big 12 that run through 2025, aren't ready to talk about a new deal when the ones in place still have four years to go.
That was a message Big 12 presidents, chancellors and athletics directors heard on a Zoom video conference Monday with a media consulting group it enlisted months ago, Tech President Lawrence Schovanec said.
Schovanec, Texas President Jay Hartzell and West Virginia President E. Gordon Gee formed a three-man committee in the fall of 2020 to study "whether we should consider acting preemptively with regard to our TV contract," Schovanec said, "or just waiting and going into free agency when that contract is up in 2025."
With assistance from the Big 12, they enlisted the consulting firm Bevilacqua Helfant Ventures (BHV).
"The general result is that, at this time, with so much uncertainty in the media marketplace as well as the landscape for collegiate athletics," Schovanec said, "our partners, ESPN and FOX, are not interested in acting preemptively with regard to our contract. They recognize the importance of our partnership, but there's just too much uncertainty, and they do have four years to go.
In December, the Southeastern Conference agreed to a 10-year contract with ABC and ESPN to begin in 2024, taking away valuable football content that has belonged to CBS since 1996. The Atlantic Coast Conference's 20-year agreement with ESPN goes through 2036.
In recent years, the Big 12's annual revenue distribution to member schools has ranked third in terms of payout behind the SEC and the Big Ten, but ahead of the Pac-12 and the ACC.
The presentation on Monday came during two days of virtual Big 12 meetings. On Tuesday, Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby told The Dallas Morning News the conference's annual distribution to member schools for this fiscal year will average $34.5 million — for the second year in a row a decrease related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Big 12 distribution announced in May 2019 averaged about $38.8 million per school, and the annual payout announced in May 2020 decreased to an average of $37.7 million per school after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, ending a 13-year streak of annual payout increases.
"So we'll wait until we get to the right place and time."
Starting in 2023, a number of major conferences and professional sports leagues will have their rights deals coming up for renegotiation and renewal.
The Big Ten's six-year contract with CBS, FOX and ESPN expires in 2023. The Pac-12 has a 12-year contract with ESPN and FOX that runs through 2024. The College Football Playoff's agreement with ESPN goes through the 2025 season (early 2026 bowl games).
The Athletic, in a story last June, noted that between now and 2024, deals also will come up for the NFL, Major League Baseball's package with ESPN, the NHL and UEFA Champions League.
So the Big 12 investigated whether it could start early on laying the groundwork for a new agreement.
"We were charged with this task in the fall," Schovanec said, "and we've had a number of meetings, and (Monday) BHV presented the outcome of all that we've learned. It's a really extensive report. That report included an analysis of our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
"I think acting preemptively might give you a longer-term contract at some financial cost, and so nobody right now is in position to do that.
"It was still a very worthwhile exercise. We've learned a lot. I think it's been very instructive to the presidents to have a better understanding of all the issues that you face in the sports-media marketplace as well as the college sports landscape."
Adding to the uncertainty, and the factors the conferences and their rights holders must consider, is how sports content will be distributed in the years to come. College football and basketball fans have gotten used to watching their teams on network and cable television, but new avenues and players could emerge.
The Athletic noted, for example, that Amazon, Apple, Google or DAZN could want a piece of the action by the time conferences begin negotiating their next deals.
Texas Tech fans have become plenty familiar with viewing games on ESPN+, the streaming service launched in 2018.
"We've spent a considerable amount of time going over all of the issues that we face right now," Schovanec said, "as we transition from what was more or less the wholesale market with this distribution in cable TV and such to a more retail market, direct to consumer. It's very much an evolving situation, so we're going to sit tight for a while and keep monitoring the situation."
