Stormin in Norman
Fansided

Oklahoma football: Big 12 media rights discussions could trigger early OU exit

By Chip Rouse

Dec 1, 2018; Atlanta, GA, USA; A general view of the SEC logo prior to the game against the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Georgia Bulldogs during the SEC championship game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 1, 2018; Atlanta, GA, USA; A general view of the SEC logo prior to the game against the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Georgia Bulldogs during the SEC championship game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

Oklahoma football could be taking up its new home in the SEC sooner rather than later.

Several national sources, including CBS Sports and The Athletic, are reporting that the Big 12 is in early contract discussions with ESPN and Fox on its next TV deal. This has some speculating that this could be enough to prompt Oklahoma and Texas to begin talks on an early Big 12 exit.

Max Olsen of The Athletic reported on Wednesday that Big 12 officials are discussing with their media partners an “accelerated extension” of the conference’s current rights agreement, which runs through 2024-25.

In entering these discussions with ESPN and Fox, the Big 12 is moving up a process that contractually was not expected to begin before the spring of 2024.

Both Oklahoma and Texas up to this point have been firmly entrenched in their position that they would remain members of the Big 12 for the term of the current media rights agreement. Despite this, many in the media believe the two schools will still negotiate to leave earlier than 2025, even though they would incur a financial exit penalty in doing so.

This latest development changes the rules of the game and could very well be the stimulus and opportunity for the administrations of both OU and Texas to accelerate their own plans.

The structure of the Big 12 will change regardless beginning in July 2023 when four new schools — Central Florida, BYU, Houston and Cincinnati are expected to become members of the Big 12.

The Big Ten recently announced that USC and UCLA would be leaving the Pac-12 in 2024 to become members of the Big Ten. Shortly thereafter, the Big Ten announced a new $7 billion TV rights deal with Fox, CBS and NBC. ESPN had been a media partner in the previous Big Ten media deal but is not part of the new agreement.

Home/OU Football