Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Mike Barnes
It appears that everything is bigger in Texas, including media speculation. Last week, word leaked that the University of Texas was exploring outreaches from both the Big Ten and Pac 10 conferences. In Missouri, such speculation about Mizzou also considering a leap out of the Big 12, heated up over the winter as well. Given such talk, is there any compelling reason for these universities to be looking at different dance partners?
The primary reason for schools such as Texas and Missouri to even contemplate leaving conferences that they have played in for decades, is the possibility for greater revenues. Teams considering joining new conferences must weigh the increase in travel budgets for all of their sports, the loss of long-heralded rivalries (Missouri – Kansas and Texas – Oklahoma), and their long developed recruiting grounds.
The Big 12’s lack of its own television network is what these schools see as a potential cap on their ability to increase revenues. The Big Ten paid out nearly $18.8 million to each of its schools in 2008, and The Sporting News projected that this figure topped $20 million each for member schools in 2009. In contrast, the University of Missouri earned $8.4 million in 2008 and was projected to receive about $10 million this year.
Texas took home $10.2 million in 2008 from the conference, as the league’s revenue sharing is not completely equal. Even if the Big Ten expands by another team, this amount would still be approximately $ 8–10 million more per school than what the Big 12 currently pays out.
One can see why Texas would be at least looking at either suitors given the above disparity. Even more galling to Texas is a breakdown in total revenues that the university’s athletic department generates versus other schools nationally. The Dallas Morning News reported that Texas leads the nation in such revenue, posting $138.4 million in 2008-09.
This figure is almost $20 million above the second largest, Ohio State. Yet, Ohio State took in $10 million more than Texas from its own conference. Of the remaining top 10 revenue producers, four were from the Big Ten, and the other five were from the SEC.
The difference in these figures of disbursements made from these conferences comes primarily from their cut of broadcast revenues. Compare the total amount of fund disbursed from the Big Ten and the Big 12 in 2008, and there is little doubt that the Big Ten’s owning of its own network gives it such a commanding resource to fund its member schools.
In that year, the Big Ten passed out approximately $207 million to its schools, while the Big 12 sent $103 million to its conference members. This $100 million difference is seen as the value of what its own network provides.
Initial reports were that when the Big Ten decided to explore adding an additional team to its conference, Notre Dame was its first choice. However, given that Notre Dame is currently under a broadcast deal with NBC through 2015 and that it earns about $9 million annually through this deal, it appears that this is probably just wishful thinking by the conference.
Missouri was the next school supposedly on the conference’s radar. Factors such as reasonable travel distances for games, the fact that Missouri can supply two large cities for broadcasting, and that it could supply some natural rivalries (Mizzou – Illinois), appeal to the conference. Expansion would also allow the conference to balance its schedule and also possibly set up a Big Ten Conference Championship game in football, a further revenue booster.
For the University of Texas, it has a larger pool of conferences to choose from. Many reports state that Texas’s draw to the Big Ten is not seen as favorably by the university as a possible jump to the Pac 10 would be. Yes, the current television deal would be greater in the Big Ten, but many view the Pac 10 as the next conference to go the route of owning its own network outright. The Pac 10 can provide the media centers of the west coast, along with a similar climate and potential rivalries (Texas vs USC every year anyone?).
Conferences such as the Big 12 require its member schools to give at least two years notice prior to exiting the conference. Perhaps this is why such trial balloons have been floated over the last several month by both conference and schools alike. Even schools such as Colorado (to the Pac 10) and Texas A & M (to the Big Ten) are now kicking the tires. It appears that the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow has many a university wondering what could be.
Michael Barnes is a sports marketing agent based in St. Louis. He is a graduate of Saint Louis University School of Law and is an Adjunct Professor in Sports Management at Southeast Missouri State University.
Comments
yearsago (anonymous) says...
Hello,
I am wondering where these reports of the pac-10 being a better fit than the big-10 for Texas, I have not found any of these reports?
February 24, 2010 at 8:37 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )