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Richer TV contract has Big 12 schools on solid footing

The invitation from the Big Ten never arrived, but a bigger paycheck is in the mail.

With the departure of Nebraska and Colorado, the Big 12 money is split 10 ways, and those shares grew in April when the Big 12 signed a 13-year cable contract with Fox worth about $90 million per year — quadruple the value of the previous deal. Combined with the existing network contract with ABC/ESPN, Missouri officials anticipate receiving approximately $13 million in TV money annually.

A year after running a deficit budget and tottering on the edge of homelessness, the MU athletic department is back on solid footing.

“I don’t know how you describe it other than going from tremendous uncertainty and a lot of anxiety to a point of a lot of confidence,” Missouri Athletic Director Mike Alden said.

The sweetened TV deal wasn’t just a Big 12 phenomenon. The Pac-12 quadrupled the value of its previous deal, signing a pact with unlikely allies Fox and ESPN that will pay each school more than $20 million per year.

Even though the economy is still staggering and funding for higher education is decreasing, college athletics — or at least big-time college football — is still a money-making machine.

The increased value of TV contracts can be pegged to two key factors: competition for the rights and DVRs.

The Big 12, for instance, has separate network and cable television deals. The network deal is with ABC/ESPN, and the cable deal is with Fox. When it was time to renegotiate the cable deal, ESPN made a play for the contract, but Fox won out.

The bidding war was even more fierce for the Pac-12 — formerly the Pac-10, but renamed after the addition of Colorado and Utah. Comcast, which owns NBC, offered the conference a deal worth $235 million, according to the Sports Business Journal. Unable to match that individually but eager to keep Comcast off their turf, ESPN and Fox joined forces on the $250 million winning bid.

“There’s just a dearth of valuable live sports programming in the market, and there is an oversupply of interested bidders,” said Chris Bevilacqua, who worked as a consultant for the Pac-12 on its TV deal. “Now, with some of those bidders being bigger and more powerful than they were in the last cycle, mainly because of what’s going on in the competitive front — NBC was bought by Comcast and other consolidation going on in the media business — you’ve got fewer choices but far more powerful choices.

Lifecore R99 Rowing Machine | rowingmachinesinfo.com

Product Description

Take your training up a notch with the Lifecore R99 Rower. With 12 Challenging Preset Programs and 16 levels magnetic resistance, the R99 is ideal for a serious workout. The Large, LCD "Blue Backlit" Computer Display stores data for up to 4 users. The solid steel fan/flywheel and silent drive systems makes the R99 a high quality piece of home fitness equipment for any level of user.

Folding rowing machine for the home with combination of air and magnetic resistance 16 levels of push-button resistance; 12 preset programs and 4 Polar-compatible heart rate programs Blue back lit monitor with readouts for speed, RPM, strokes, race function, calories and program Stores data for up to 4 users; 300-pound maximum user weight Lifetime warranty on frame; 2 years on parts; 90 days on labor

Take your training up a notch with the Lifecore R99 Rower. With 12 Challenging Preset Programs and 16 levels magnetic resistance, the R99 is ideal for a serious workout. The Large, LCD "Blue Backlit" Computer Display stores data for up to 4 users. The solid steel fan/flywheel and silent drive systems makes the R99 a high quality piece of home fitness equipment for any level of user.

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