Report: Big 12, ESPN Near TV Rights Extension

According to a report Tuesday by the Sports Business Daily / Sports Business Journal the Big 12 is on the verge of a new TV contract with ESPN that will put its media revenue among the top tier of college conferences.

The Big 12 and ESPN are nearing an extension that will earn the conference –combined with its Fox TV contract - $2.5 billion over the next 13 years. The ESPN extension would run through 2025 and sync up with Fox’s deal.

The Big 12 stands to make $1.3 billion from ESPN and $1.2 billion from Fox over the life of the two deals. ESPN’s old contract with the Big 12 ran through 2016, but the two sides are close on a nine-year extension that will increase the conference’s average revenue from its current $150 million a year to nearly $200 million annually.

Each Big 12 school will make roughly $5 million more a year in the new contract over the old deal. Under the new terms, each Big 12 school will average just under $20 million a year.