By Jamie Plunkett
Frogs Today staff writer
News broke Thursday evening that the Big 12, its media rights partners, and Texas and Oklahoma have come to an agreement regarding the Longhorns and Sooners’ exit from the conference.
The Big 12 made the announcement in a press release:
“The Big 12 announces that the Conference has agreed in principle to terms with the University of Oklahoma and The University of Texas at Austin to leave the Conference following the 2023-24 athletic year, one year earlier than originally announced, subject to final approval from the OU and UT governing Boards. Compensation to the Conference for the early withdrawals of the two schools totals $100 million in foregone distributable revenues, which OU and UT will be able to partially offset with future revenues.”
The announcement comes less than a week after multiple reports emerged that discussions had stalled. Negotiations got unstuck quickly, though, as Texas and Oklahoma will have a new home beginning in 2024.
This is the second large issue Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark has overcome in his roughly six months on the job. Last fall, Yormark negotiated a media rights extension with FOX and ESPN that netted the Big 12 $380 million annually through the 2030-31 season.
Now that Yormark has cleared the hurdle of Texas and Oklahoma’s exit, he can turn his attention to the next big thing: expansion.
