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Report: TV networks do not want to see Big 12 expand

BySteven Kubitza|
Oct 3, 2015; Arlington, TX, USA; A view of the Big 12 logo on the field after the game between the Baylor Bears and the Texas Tech Red Raiders at AT&T Stadium. The Bears defeat the Red Raiders 63-35. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 3, 2015; Arlington, TX, USA; A view of the Big 12 logo on the field after the game between the Baylor Bears and the Texas Tech Red Raiders at AT&T Stadium. The Bears defeat the Red Raiders 63-35. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

A recent report claims certain television networks do not want the Big 12 to pursue expansion.

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The Big 12 is among the college football conferences with misleading names, as only ten teams remain after the realignment seen this decade.

While the league ponders expansion to get back to at least twelve teams, there is some pushback from the television networks covering the conference, according to an article in Sports Business Journal.

The article talks about possible expansion with teams such as BYU, Cincinnati and Houston among others, and the financial repercussions for the networks if schools are added:

"ESPN and Fox Sports believe that expansion with schools from outside the power five conferences will water down the Big 12 and make it less valuable, not more, sources said. But the Big 12 is financially motivated to add more teams. A clause in the conference’s media deals stipulate that if the Big 12 expands, it would receive pro rata increases in its rights fees.The original deals pay $2.6 billion over 13 years, or about $20 million per school annually. Expansion by two schools, theoretically, would force ESPN and Fox combined to pay an additional $40 million per year in rights fees. Expansion by four teams could mean another $80 million per year.Both networks, according to sources, are digging their heels in against paying those kinds of increases based on expansion with schools outside the power five."

This is a unique problem for the game of college football. Getting smaller schools into a power five conference would help grow the game and put more programs in position to reach the College Football Playoff, but the networks do have a point about the competition possibly being lessened if these teams are added.

However, the argument can be made that the dismal football program at Kansas is already watering down the competition in the Big 12. An 0-12 season in 2015 did not exactly draw great ratings.

The article explains how the networks could take the conference to court if more teams are added, but the current state of college football sees teams joining and leaving conferences every year. Court action can be taken, but the decision may rely upon the new business of college football.

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