Oklahoma and Texas told the Big 12 on Monday that they would not be renewing their contractual agreement ending in 2025.
A day later, they formally notified the Southeastern Conference of their membership request and are set to be officially admitted on Thursday, per 247Sports.
There’s now talk about what a 16-team SEC means for college sports overall.
USA Today reported that a realigned SEC could generate $1.3 billion in revenue in 2024-2025 — equivalent to the NCAA’s projected haul that year.
The NCAA would see most of its earnings from broadcast deals with CBS and Turner that are expected to bring in $990 million in 2024-25. Meanwhile, ESPN will pay the SEC around $300 million annually for its broadcast rights, starting in 2024. Adding Texas and Oklahoma to the conference would almost certainly make that deal more valuable.
Joining the SEC has other financial incentives.
- SEC schools received roughly $45 million each in conference distributions in 2019-20 — between $5 million and $9 million more than Big 12 schools.
- The schools anticipate making another $20 million each year upon the start of the conference’s new media rights deal.
Still, leaving the Big 12 has a price. Oklahoma and Texas would have to pay exit fees amounting to the final two years of conference distributions — $80 million per school.
