Texas, Oklahoma Leaving Big 12 Early, Joining SEC In 2024 Season After Reaching Exit Agreement

Texas and Oklahoma have reached an early exit settlement with the Big 12 that may see the powers depart for the SEC following the 2023-24 athletic season. The Big 12 and each applications introduced Thursday night time that the Longhorns and Sooners pays early withdrawal charges of a mixed $100 million to hitch the SEC in 2024, a full season sooner than initially deliberate.

The Big 12’s two most distinguished applications made waves in July 2021 after they accepted invites to hitch the SEC, setting off the most recent spherical of convention realignment. At the time, Texas and Oklahoma deliberate to maneuver to the SEC starting July 1, 2025, as soon as the Big 12’s energetic grant of rights settlement expired, opening the door for UT and OU to depart the convention free and clear. 

However, as soon as the Big 12 backfilled its membership by including BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF — all becoming a member of the league for the 2023 season — momentum started to shift towards the Longhorns and Sooners leaving for the SEC sooner than scheduled. Texas and Oklahoma not solely most well-liked to keep away from taking part in the brand new Big 12 members, they needed to hitch the SEC for Year 1 of its new TV take care of ESPN. The Big 12 eyed the substantial exit payment to complement the brand new six-year media rights deal it negotiated with Fox and ESPN in October 2022.

The eight legacy Big 12 groups agreed to share a portion of their media rights distributions from the Big 12’s current offers with Fox and ESPN to make attainable the four-team growth. Each program determined to forego $16 million complete ($8 million yearly in 2023-24 and 2024-25) in future monies, sources beforehand instructed CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd.

The negotiated $100 million early exit payment the Big 12 will obtain from Texas and Oklahoma for not being a part of the league’s media package deal in 2025 — down from a sum that would have totaled as much as $168 million — will doubtless be used to make entire these eight legacy applications. It isn’t but identified what, if any, compensation Fox and/or ESPN will obtain as a part of the transition.

“As I have consistently stated, the conference would only agree to an early withdrawal if it was in our best interest for Oklahoma and Texas to depart prior to June 30, 2025,” Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark mentioned in a press release saying the deal. “By reaching this agreement, we are now able to accelerate our new beginning as a 12-team league and move forward in earnest with our initiatives and future planning.”

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey subsequently introduced that his league’s workplace will “proceed with facilitating the transition” of Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC starting July 1, 2024, one yr sooner than initially accepted.

Not solely will the Longhorns and Sooners now be part of the SEC because it begins its new media rights take care of ESPN in 2024, that season additionally marks the primary yr of the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff and the transition of USC and UCLA from the Pac-12 to the Big Ten.

The SEC and Big Ten will each grow to be 16-team conferences beginning in 2024. The Big 12 will play with 14 members in 2023 earlier than transferring again to 12 groups in 2024 except it expands additional, which is believed to be on Yormark’s radar.