Thought I'd post since we've been missing these for a few days. Again, nothing really new and no mention of need/want for a Big 12 network. Same old Big East argument of adding the 'right teams' and no one now 'adds value'.
Big 12 Conference Expansion???
Posted: Jul 16, 2015 2:49 PM EDT <em class="wnDate">Thursday, July 16, 2015 2:49 PM EDT</em>Updated: Jul 16, 2015 2:52 PM ED
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President Boren and even WVU President, Dr. Gee have had said similar things over the past few news cycles to start the conversation into a real plan for the conference. It's no secret Boren would like the Big 12 to return to 12 teams. But the moves have to make sense and the timing has to be right for the conference.
"I think it's something we should strive for while we have the time, stability, all of that to look and be choosy," Boren told reporters, according to The (Oklahoma City) Oklahoman. "(We) can be very selective about who we want to add. It would have to add value to the conference. I think we should."
This is code for – hold the line for now but let’s strike when it’s right. Ultimately, the Big 12 would like to be numerically correct – 12 teams. The conference is making due managing the benefits of a 9-game, round-robin schedule for football but not having a conference championship game narrative to the public. However, expansion is very much on the minds of conference brass.
The challenge is the last part of several of Boren’s quotes - to finding "the right partners." I have to believe if the right partners were currently available, the Big 12 would have moved – NOW! One other interesting mention by President Boren revealed (and Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby has since confirmed) the league's main TV deal includes a clause that would proportionally increase revenue if the league expanded - meaning members wouldn't get less money by adding two or four schools.
Consider this point: If the Big 12 is looking at adding schools to the conference, Boren’s comments and this math-made-easy are as follows: The Big 12 is about to enter the fourth year of its 13-year ESPN/Fox deal that averages about $20 million annually to every conference member. That “clause” mentioned above (proportionally increase revenue if the league expanded) would in other words, even by adding schools to the conference, the Big 12 guarantees every member that sum ($20 million) instead of a slightly cut down version of the deal, and that's kind of a big deal. The other payouts from the NCAA basketball tournament, non-playoff bowls and the College Football Playoff would be potentially smaller with more members but it would eventually add to the greater pot of money per school.
Let’s do some quick math: It’s public knowledge the Big 12 conference just paid out an average of $25.2 million per school. It’s also public knowledge the conferences bowl affiliation payout to the Big 12 from non-playoff bowl appearances amounted to approximately $6.4 million per school. The NCAA basketball tournament money is harder to calculate as the Big 12 comes together with its current roster of schools, but it's in the neighborhood of $2 million per school. Even with this tricky math, the conference would anticipate additional revenue by adding members to the mix, which would add to more non-playoff bowl appearances and would add more NCAA basketball appearances and you guess it - more money per school.
Any down side of added schools and eventually dividing the conference money evenly among (12) or (14) schools, would be quickly recovered, when the league added a conference championship game, which it would with (12) or more schools.
So the take way from all of this… by adding the right teams that can make the BCS playoff or any non-playoff bowl or advance consistently and appear in the NCAA basketball tournament, would boost the bottom line for all Big 12 members.
In other words, no matter the perceived football power (insert school here) or TV markets (insert city here) or even the fan base or NCAA basketball appearances (like Memphis) that could come into play IF the conference were to expand (it appears on the surface) the candidates out there currently don’t bring enough value to the Big 12 conference; at least not yet…
http://www.wvillustrated.com/story/29565815/big-12-conference-expansion
Big 12 Conference Expansion???
Posted: Jul 16, 2015 2:49 PM EDT <em class="wnDate">Thursday, July 16, 2015 2:49 PM EDT</em>Updated: Jul 16, 2015 2:52 PM ED
***********************************
President Boren and even WVU President, Dr. Gee have had said similar things over the past few news cycles to start the conversation into a real plan for the conference. It's no secret Boren would like the Big 12 to return to 12 teams. But the moves have to make sense and the timing has to be right for the conference.
"I think it's something we should strive for while we have the time, stability, all of that to look and be choosy," Boren told reporters, according to The (Oklahoma City) Oklahoman. "(We) can be very selective about who we want to add. It would have to add value to the conference. I think we should."
This is code for – hold the line for now but let’s strike when it’s right. Ultimately, the Big 12 would like to be numerically correct – 12 teams. The conference is making due managing the benefits of a 9-game, round-robin schedule for football but not having a conference championship game narrative to the public. However, expansion is very much on the minds of conference brass.
The challenge is the last part of several of Boren’s quotes - to finding "the right partners." I have to believe if the right partners were currently available, the Big 12 would have moved – NOW! One other interesting mention by President Boren revealed (and Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby has since confirmed) the league's main TV deal includes a clause that would proportionally increase revenue if the league expanded - meaning members wouldn't get less money by adding two or four schools.
Consider this point: If the Big 12 is looking at adding schools to the conference, Boren’s comments and this math-made-easy are as follows: The Big 12 is about to enter the fourth year of its 13-year ESPN/Fox deal that averages about $20 million annually to every conference member. That “clause” mentioned above (proportionally increase revenue if the league expanded) would in other words, even by adding schools to the conference, the Big 12 guarantees every member that sum ($20 million) instead of a slightly cut down version of the deal, and that's kind of a big deal. The other payouts from the NCAA basketball tournament, non-playoff bowls and the College Football Playoff would be potentially smaller with more members but it would eventually add to the greater pot of money per school.
Let’s do some quick math: It’s public knowledge the Big 12 conference just paid out an average of $25.2 million per school. It’s also public knowledge the conferences bowl affiliation payout to the Big 12 from non-playoff bowl appearances amounted to approximately $6.4 million per school. The NCAA basketball tournament money is harder to calculate as the Big 12 comes together with its current roster of schools, but it's in the neighborhood of $2 million per school. Even with this tricky math, the conference would anticipate additional revenue by adding members to the mix, which would add to more non-playoff bowl appearances and would add more NCAA basketball appearances and you guess it - more money per school.
Any down side of added schools and eventually dividing the conference money evenly among (12) or (14) schools, would be quickly recovered, when the league added a conference championship game, which it would with (12) or more schools.
So the take way from all of this… by adding the right teams that can make the BCS playoff or any non-playoff bowl or advance consistently and appear in the NCAA basketball tournament, would boost the bottom line for all Big 12 members.
In other words, no matter the perceived football power (insert school here) or TV markets (insert city here) or even the fan base or NCAA basketball appearances (like Memphis) that could come into play IF the conference were to expand (it appears on the surface) the candidates out there currently don’t bring enough value to the Big 12 conference; at least not yet…
http://www.wvillustrated.com/story/29565815/big-12-conference-expansion
