The Big 12 Conference nearly dissolved 10 years ago and still managed to go the next decade with relative stability. But that stability all hinged on the cooperation of two schools — the University of Texas and the University of Oklahoma — and over the past week, we’ve seen just how fragile the Big 12 really is.
Texas and Oklahoma announced that they wouldn’t renew their grant of rights with the Big 12, meaning they would leave the conference for the SEC in 2025. And while 2025 is a long ways away, the true hope for Texas, OU and their lawyers is to see the Big 12 collapse sooner. That would open the door for an earlier move to the SEC without exit fees and TV rights being tied up in existing Big 12 contracts.
That’s where ESPN apparently came in to the picture on Wednesday.
The Big 12 is furious
On Wednesday, Sports Illustrated obtained a cease-and-desist letter from the Big 12 to its media partner, ESPN. The conference commissioner Bob Bowlsby alleged that ESPN had been in contact with at least one different conference about poaching Big 12 members.
Bowlsby finished off the letter with an absolutely wild signature that really needs to be mentioned here. Why are there so many T’s? That warrants a conversation.
.@SINow has obtained the cease and desist letter that the Big 12 sent to ESPN.
In it, commissioner Bob Bowlsby says that ESPN has reached out to at least one of the eight remaining Big 12 members in an attempt to convince the school to leave in wake of the Texas and OU exit. pic.twitter.com/j50gEBPWBY
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) July 28, 2021
According to CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd, one of those conferences in contact with ESPN was the American Athletic Conference, which could be a potential landing spot for schools like Baylor, Oklahoma State, Kansas State, West Virginia and Texas Tech. Kansas and Iowa State have been mentioned as options for the Big Ten. The ACC may also be an option for Big 12 schools.
Big 12: ESPN conspired with American to take “3-5” teams to AAC. Story up soon.
— Dennis Dodd (@dennisdoddcbs) July 28, 2021
Bowlsby had more to say
In what is already shaping up to be a wild battle between a major conference and its broadcast partner, Bowlsby went on to say that ESPN has been deliberately trying to undermine the Big 12 in a larger conspiracy.
Bowlsby: "It’s not unrelated to OU-Texas, because if the conference ceases to exist, they have the best chance to join the SEC more quickly and they have the best chance to get out of their obligations for the grant of rights and the exit fees."
— Max Olson (@max_olson) July 28, 2021
And he said he had proof of those conversations.
Bowlsby: "I’m not prepared to share the evidence, but I can tell you it’s irrefutable."
— Max Olson (@max_olson) July 28, 2021
It’s unclear what exactly will happen next or if the legal threats will delay the inevitable collapse (or revamping) of the Big 12. But Texas and OU’s strategy of going with the 2025 date in public-facing remarks while looking for an earlier option makes sense here. It suits ESPN, which signed a 10-year, $3 billion deal with the SEC, to have Texas and OU in the fold as soon as possible.
The only way to make that happen is to have the Big 12 to crater on its own. And if what Bowlsby says is true, ESPN is trying to accelerate that result.
Here's ESPN's response to the Big 12 letter: "The claims in the letter have no merit."
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) July 28, 2021
This is going to get ugly.
