big 12

The biggest opponents of the Big 12’s proposed expansion might have been the conference’s television partners. Last week, Fox Sports president Eric Shanks came right out and said he thought adding teams to the Big 12 was a bad idea because it would dilute the conference. Expansion was mainly of concern to Fox because it would have triggered a clause forcing the network to pay more in rights fees, and Shanks did not think the expansion candidates were attractive enough to warrant the extra costs.

Well, the networks got their way, as the Big 12 decided to stand pat at 10 teams, but ESPN and Fox have reacted differently to the news. According to Sports Business Daily, ESPN will restructure its deal with the Big 12 and pay the conference about $10 million more over the next eight years in exchange for removing the clause that would force them to raise their fees in case of expansion.

Fox, on the other hand, will stand pat for now, meaning that if the Big 12 does expand in the future, Shanks and company will be on the hook for some extra cash.

So basically ESPN played it safe with a small payout now, while Fox left itself open to bigger losses down the road. It will likely be years before we know whether the gamble pays off.

[Sports Business Daily]

About Alex Putterman

Alex is a writer and editor for The Comeback and Awful Announcing. He has written for The Atlantic, VICE Sports, MLB.com, SI.com and more. He is a proud alum of Northwestern University and The Daily Northwestern. You can find him on Twitter @AlexPutterman.

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