Texas reaches 20-year, $300M ESPN deal

College Search & Selection
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<p>Bye bye PAC-16 & BIG-16... </p>

<p>Wait, Rutgers & ND still up for grabs!! lol</p>

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<p>[ESPN</a> and University of Texas Sign $300 Million Deal To Create Longhorn Network | Bleacher Report](<a href=“ESPN and University of Texas Sign $300 Million Deal To Create Longhorn Network | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors | Bleacher Report”>ESPN and University of Texas Sign $300 Million Deal To Create Longhorn Network | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors | Bleacher Report)</p>

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<p>There is still hope for a BIG20 or BIG30. Plenty of legends and leaders to grab from Washington to Maine. :)</p>

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<p>^^ true, true!! Let’s start-off with the BIG-16 West Coast Division, I would like to add UDub, UCB, UCLA and Stanford to our current roster. Stanford’s ‘protected’ rivals will be Northwestern for major sports and Chicago for academics. :p</p>

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<p>Maybe this will help with the funding cuts that are coming with the State’s expected $27B deficit.</p>

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<p>Honestly, does anyone outside of Texas really care?</p>

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<p>^ Yes…this should be put in the face of Pac-12 commish when he negotiates our TV deal.</p>

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<p>"Kirk Bohl’s of the Austin American-Statesman speculates that the Longhorns’ deal could increase speculation that the Aggies would be interested in joining the SEC.</p>

<p>Bohl’s said, “Who could blame A&M and Oklahoma if they didn’t unite at some point to shift to the SEC, which I think would scoop them up in a second.”</p>

<p>During the summer, when conference expansion talk was at a high point and Texas was being courted by the Pac-10, Big Ten, and SEC, there was speculation that the SEC would be interested in the also scooping up A&M and possibly Oklahoma.</p>

<p>However, Texas chose to stay put, essentially saving the Big 12, and ended any talk of SEC expansion.</p>

<p>Bohl’s went on to add that Texas A&M could team up with Big 12 brethren Oklahoma and form its own television network. As for the SEC talk, Bohl had a top Aggies source add, “It may be a lot of noise, but I don’t sense a lot of groundswell from the president or athletic director’s office.”</p>

<p>It’s an interesting thought and definitely something to keep an eye on in the future."</p>

<p>Source: [Could</a> Texas deal push Texas A&M to SEC? – College Gridiron 365 Blog – Orlando Sentinel](<a href=“http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/sports_college/2011/01/could-texas-deal-push-texas-am-to-sec.html]Could”>http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/sports_college/2011/01/could-texas-deal-push-texas-am-to-sec.html)</p>

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<p>Well, Texas, ND & USC can all go independent for all I care!! </p>

<p>If SEC is to add Texas A&M and Okaloma for whatsoever reason, I would like BIG TEN to add Pitt and Rutgers to go to 14 as well. PAC-12 can certainly add UCDavis and perhaps BYU for its own future expansion.</p>

<p><a href=“Is The New Texas/ESPN TV Network The Opening Shot In Round 2 Of Expansion? - Off Tackle Empire”>Is The New Texas/ESPN TV Network The Opening Shot In Round 2 Of Expansion? - Off Tackle Empire;

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<p>Oklahoma U and Texas A&M may not have the financial wherewithal in the athletic department that UTexas has, but they will have essentially received a bonu$ now that the Big 12 is the ‘Big 12 Minus Two.’ No more shares for UColorado and UNebraska. No more expensive, hard to arrange flights/connections to Lincoln, NE.</p>

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<p>[Bill</a> Byrne: It’s All the Longhorn Network’s Fault But It Won’t Work Anyway – Blog - Sports - You + Dallas](<a href=“http://www.youplusdallas.com/cityblog/sports/2012/03/bill-byrne-its-all-the-longhorn-networks-fault-but-it-wont-work-anyway/]Bill”>http://www.youplusdallas.com/cityblog/sports/2012/03/bill-byrne-its-all-the-longhorn-networks-fault-but-it-wont-work-anyway/)</p>

<p>If this indeed happens, I see Texas joining PAC-12 and ND goes to BIG TEN at the end. </p>

<p>The latest had BIG TEN joined forces with the PAC-12 against SEC & ACC expansion. Personally, I thought it was an awesome idea on many fronts - props to both ADs! :)</p>

<p>[Big</a> Ten/Pac-12 alliance helpful on many fronts - Chicago Sun-Times](<a href=“http://www.suntimes.com/sports/colleges/9710938-419/big-tenpac-12-alliance-beneficial-on-many-fronts.html]Big”>http://www.suntimes.com/sports/colleges/9710938-419/big-tenpac-12-alliance-beneficial-on-many-fronts.html)</p>

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<p>Whats going on now?</p>

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<p>^^ Excerpt:</p>

<p>"However, the agreement does not include access to the Longhorn Network, ESPN’s much-ballyhooed 20-year, $300 million partnership with the University of Texas, which launched in August but has failed to gain carriage on the nation’s largest cable or satellite systems.</p>

<p>“We were not able to include Longhorn Network in this agreement, but we continue to have productive conversations with Comcast and other distributors,” an ESPN spokeswoman said.</p>

<p>“We have no plans to carry (Longhorn Network) at this time,” added a Comcast spokesman."</p>

<p>Source: [More</a> Disney, ESPN content coming to Comcast — but not Longhorn Network | Four DVRs, no waiting | a Chron.com blog](<a href=“http://blog.chron.com/sportsmedia/2012/01/more-disney-espn-content-coming-to-comcast-but-not-longhorn-network/]More”>http://blog.chron.com/sportsmedia/2012/01/more-disney-espn-content-coming-to-comcast-but-not-longhorn-network/)</p>

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<p>So like I said earlier, “Honestly, does anyone outside of Texas really care?”</p>

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<p>So what happens if it doesn’t get picked up by more carriers? Bye, bye $300 million?</p>

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<p>Or is ESPN on the hook?</p>

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<p>Good job killing the Big 12 guys. Soon it’ll be you and Oklahoma playing 6 times a year, with hopscotch scrimmages on the off weeks</p>

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<p>Conference expansion talk resurfaces</p>

<p>[Conference</a> expansion talk resurfaces - Dallas Colleges Blog - ESPN Dallas](<a href=“http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas/colleges/post/_/id/4678595/conference-expansion-talk-resurfaces]Conference”>Conference expansion talk resurfaces - ESPN - Dallas Colleges Blog- ESPN)</p>

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<p>UT should just go independent, their greed has decimated the Big 12</p>

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<p>ACC/Big 12 alliance makes sense to stiff-arm conference realigment</p>

<p>[ACC/Big</a> 12 alliance makes sense to stiff-arm conference realigment - CBSSports.com](<a href=“http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/blog/dennis-dodd/21620974/acc/big-12-alliance-makes-sense-to-stiff-arm-conference-realigment]ACC/Big”>http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/blog/dennis-dodd/21620974/acc/big-12-alliance-makes-sense-to-stiff-arm-conference-realigment)</p>

<p>Big 12 + ACC = Big ACC!! lol</p>

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<p>Hey Spark, didn’t the B1G and Pacific 12 sign such a partnership agreement last year?</p>

<p>In any event, the CBS Sports story wasn’t as clear as it could have been. Was he saying that Oklahoma State would have finished higher ranked than Alabama if OSU had won a Big 12 Championship Game? Wasn’t it just a few years ago when Big 12 Conference had to keep a stiff upper lip because the lower ranked team (Colorado and Texas, if I remember correctly) upset the Big 12 favorite in the championship game, ending the conference’s hope for BCS championship pay-out?</p>

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<p>“Hey Spark, didn’t the B1G and Pacific 12 sign such a partnership agreement last year?”</p>

<p>They did and it has already been cancelled:</p>

<p><a href=“http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/8163297/pac-12-big-ten-conferences-call-football-partnership[/url]”>http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/8163297/pac-12-big-ten-conferences-call-football-partnership&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;