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Big 12 Reaches Deal With Fox, ESPN, ABC Sports

The Big 12's new TV deal with Fox, ESPN and ABC will bring in $2.5 billion over 13 years.

By Ryan Rosenblatt
Sep 2, 2012; Waco, TX, USA; A general view of the Big 12 logo at Floyd Casey Stadium before the game between the Baylor Bears and the Southern Methodist Mustangs. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-US PRESSWIRE
Sep 2, 2012; Waco, TX, USA; A general view of the Big 12 logo at Floyd Casey Stadium before the game between the Baylor Bears and the Southern Methodist Mustangs. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-US PRESSWIRE

The Big 12 has finalized their long-rumored TV deal with Fox and ESPN. The conference signed a 13-year, $2.5 billion contract that will give the conference the kind of stability it has lacked in years as members have left for other conferences and rumors of the league's demise swirled.

As part of the deal, all of the conference's teams had to agree to give the Big 12 their TV rights for the duration of the contract. The unique part of the deal is that the conference will retain the schools' TV rights even if they leave for another conference, which pretty much guarantees that none of the Big 12's 10 members will leave for another conference.

Fox, ABC, FX and the ESPN networks will all carry Big 12 football games and the networks will share the digital rights for the conference. Fox will have the first choice of games through 2015, most of which will be used to select games for their six games that will be on over-the-air Fox. Beginning in 2016, Fox and ESPN will alternate first choice of games.

In total, the deal should result in a tick over $20 million annually for each of the conference's 10 schools. The contract will take the conference through 2025, which is when the TV deal for the new college football playoff is expected to end.

The only hold up with the deal right now is the Texas Tech's board granting final approval, but that is considered a formality.