Big TV money served as Big 12’s savior

Associated Press

austin, texas

Looking for the savior of the Big 12? Follow the money.

Assurances that the big television money will soon be coming to the leaner Big 12 pulled the league back from the dead, officials with schools and the league said Tuesday.

With Colorado (Pac-10) and Nebraska (Big Ten) leaving in the next two years and the Pac-10 making a hard sell to Texas and four other schools to join them, the promises — not guarantees — of bigger checks in the future finally persuaded the Longhorns and the others to stay put.

“This is a long-term and unequivocal commitment,” Texas president William Powers Jr., said Tuesday. “We’ve decided the Big 12 provides the best long-term opportunity for our university.”

According IRS tax records examined by The Associated Press, the Big 12 paid out between $8.7 million to $15.4 million per school in 2008-09, with Kansas State getting the smallest payout and Oklahoma the biggest.

The Big 12’s television deal with Fox expires in 2012 and a more lucrative contract with ESPN runs through the 2015-2016 academic year.

Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe said no new TV deals have been struck, but he has “extremely strong verification, based on our analysis with our consultants and others, and media companies themselves, that we are in a tremendous position to execute future agreements that will put our member institutions on par with any in the country.”

He did not provide any numbers during a conference call with reporters.