Missouri Ponders Starting It's Own TV Network

After the near-demise of the conference, Big 12 schools are now allowed to have their own TV network. The decision was designed to keep Texas, who has been thinking about starting it's own TV network, in the conference.

Now, David Briggs of the Columbia-Tribune reports Missouri officials "have met to discuss new ways to deliver athletic programming to fans."

If the Tigers did start their own network, it would be the first of its kind. While Texas has talked about doing it -- and most likely will in the near future -- no school has ever started it's own TV network.

However, there's a difference between talking about it, and actually doing it, a Mizzou rep says.

“I would caution from making it sound like that’s absolutely going to happen, but I think we have certain resources and advantages that other schools don’t,” said the Missouri athletic department’s director of media relations, Chad Moller, who has been involved in the school’s talks about future media ventures. “So I’d like to think we can make that happen at some point. Whether it’s five years down the road or longer, I don’t know, of course, but I think it’s a great goal to set out there.”

As the only BCS school in a state with six million, I could see how this would be enticing, and potentially viable.

A consultant and former president of CBS Sports says it would be an "uphill climb" for Mizzou to pull off because the size of the state but one of the more important and costly aspects of a network -- rights to the programming -- are already owned by Mizzou.

“That’s the big cost, and they own the programming,” said John Mansell, a sports media consultant based in Virginia, noting a school-owned network would be a valuable recruiting tool. “I’m not so sure it would be a huge risk to do it.”