OU and UT begin the move to SEC
IRVING, Texas (BVM) — The move to the SEC has begun. It was announced Monday that Big 12 Conference founders Oklahoma and Texas would not be renewing their grant of rights deal following the 2024-25 season.
“Providing notice to the Big 12 at this point is important in advance of the expiration of the conference’s current media rights agreement,” both universities said in a joint statement. “The universities intend to honor their existing grant of rights agreements. However, both universities will continue to monitor the rapidly evolving collegiate athletics landscape as they consider how best to position their athletics programs for the future.”
Oklahoma & Texas make it official: they’re leaving conference & expected to apply for SEC membership pic.twitter.com/65h35M18OF
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) July 26, 2021
Before the announcement Monday, the Big 12 executive committee held a teleconference with Texas president Jay Hartzell and Oklahoma president Joe Harroz to see if they could potentially sway the two schools to stay.
“The meeting was cordial, and the Executive Committee expressed a willingness to discuss proposals that would strengthen the Conference and be mutually beneficial to OU and UT, as well as the other member institutions of the Conference,” Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby said in a statement. “I expect that we will continue our conversations in the days ahead and we look forward to discussing thoughts, ideas and concepts that may be of shared interest and impact.”
If the two powerhouses were to join the SEC before the end of 2025, it would end up costing the two universities around $80 million in buyouts which are “equal to the sum of the amount of distributions that otherwise would be paid to the Member during the final two years of its membership in the Conference.” But by doing this, it would allow the Sooners and Longhorns to get comfortable before the new SEC media rights deals begin.
Still, it continues to be shown that Texas and Oklahoma will remain loyal to the Big 12’s media rights agreement until the end of the 2024-25 college athletic season. But it seems doubtful that both schools will remain with the Big 12 for much longer.
