What’s going on in the Big 12 and beyond? I expand and explain every Sunday in Postscripts at Heartland College Sports, your home for independent Big 12 coverage.
College Football Playoff Window is Open
The College Football Playoff sent its strongest signal yet last week: real momentum toward a 2014 playoff. But what does it mean for the Big 12 Conference?
The CFP committee triggered its 30-day exclusive negotiating window with ESPN for the next CFP television contract. This allows the two sides to talk about whether ESPN is willing to take on an expanded playoff — the 24-team playoff that seems to be gathering more steam.
That this is happening after SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said he would be open to 24 teams under certain conditions is not a coincidence. The SEC was the lone holdout of the four power conferences, and per the memorandum of understanding that everyone signed two years ago, the Big Ten and the SEC must agree on the new format, or it stays at 12 teams.
If ESPN and the CFP can agree on a new deal by the end of the 30-day window, then the playoff is likely to expand. If they can’t, the playoff could still expand, but ESPN would have competition for the television rights to the expanded playoff.
To be clear— the CFP wants the latter option. The Big 12 should, too.
It’s all about the money, of course. I can’t see a scenario in which ESPN pays — or perhaps overpays — for a 24-team playoff. The power conferences need the money to work because of what they’re giving up — their precious conference championship games. They may be redundant in a 24-team playoff, but they do make money. Sankey said the SEC makes $100 million off theirs. The Big 12 is likely in that neighborhood. To make a 24-team playoff work, they’d need to replace that money, and the only way to do that is to make the TV money work.
To do that, the CFP needs more networks at the table. It’s the same logic Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark is using when it comes to his desire for a standalone basketball contract. Right now, five different networks broadcast Big 12 games. If that’s how he wants to work things for the next TV deal, he needs multiple suitors. So, he’s building those relationships now.
Trust me — CBS, NBC, and other outlets want a turn at this. Both have distinct advantages now. CBS and Turner Sports are under the same umbrella, and both are linear cable channels. Same for NBC, which resurrected its NBC Sports Network last year right as the Big 12 Conference brought its basketball to the network. Having several suitors means the CFP can set its price and allow games to air on multiple networks. It solves some of the television window issues that ESPN would naturally have if it broadcast the entire playoff.
It would also bring more revenue, including to the Big 12 Conference. That’s one benefit, clearly.
More Big 12 Benefits
Here’s another. Let’s say Fox, CBS, and NBC all get in on this for the 2027 playoff, which would be the earliest the game could move to 24 teams. That gives Yormark and his conference additional runway to build relationships. The Big 12 already has a great relationship with Fox. This gives him a chance to build ones with the football people at CBS and NBC — and sometimes those are different divisions at those networks.
This matters to the Big 12 because I think ESPN may not be the league’s primary rights holder for the next television deal. ESPN’s exclusive deals with the SEC and the ACC are getting more untenable for the Big 12.
Or, did y’all enjoy chasing around the Oklahoma State-Oregon game on Saturday, which bounced from network to network due to the U.S. Open women’s final? I ended up watching the SkyCam channel for the end of that game. It’s the second week a competitive Big 12 game has been bounced. That can’t be sitting well with Yormark.
Finally, as I wrote last week, an expanded playoff benefits the Big 12 because, based on last year’s final CFP ranking, five Big 12 teams would have made the field. He needs more teams in the field, more chances to win games, and more opportunities to boost the conference’s reputation in the playoff, which is the worst among the power conferences. That’s not a dig. That’s just the truth. Volume helps the conference.
So here we are. We’ll know about this time in October. My guess? It’s going to be a bid bonanza, and multiple networks are going to end up with the playoff, which should help the Big 12 short-term and long-term.
