Here's a factual summary of what the LHN actually is and why the rest of Big XII are a bunch of pansies:
First, I want to revisit the Longhorn Network and third tier rights. Most people don’t actually know what this is all about so I want to shed a little light on it as there is a great deal of misconception out there, even amongst knowledgeable college football fans. All the angst, all the anger, all the frustration…it can be largely considered derivative of the Longhorn Network…so here’s how this works.
Members of every BCS conference around the country have tie-ins to conference TV contracts that account for the majority of revenues associated with football. The contracts are negotiated between the networks and the conference and then conference bylaws determine the formula for distributing the money within the conference (some conferences distribute that money evenly and some distribute based on a formula that is typically tied to appearances). These contracts represent the rights to the conference “first tier” and “second tier” entertainment; however, they are not ubiquitous. For example, the Big 12’s first tier rights are with ABC/ESPN (meaning ABC/ESPN gets the first pick of the Big 12 football games each week) and its second tier rights are contracted with Fox, which gives them the next pick on games. The rest of the games that aren’t chosen are considered third tier entertainment. It works the same way in every conference…the Big 10’s first tier rights are contracted with ABC/ESPN and its second tier is with the Big 10 Network…while the SEC’s first tier is with CBS and its second tier is with ESPN. Something that needs to be clear is that the Longhorn Network and ESPN bought the THIRD TIER RIGHTS from Texas, nothing more, nothing less. This does not change a single thing with regards to the conference distributions for contracts that govern the conference-network relationship. This means they only have the right to show content that the networks signed into the conference network contracts decline.
So this concept is completely new, right? Texas and ESPN are being cavalier with college football and breaking the mold completely as no school in the country has the level of arrogance and greed that Texas does. Texas is being a bully and making money it doesn’t have to share with the rest of the conference off third tier programming which no one else has the arrogance and greed to do…right?
Wrong.
Teams have been selling their third tier rights for decades. Florida sold its rights to the Sunshine Network many many years ago. (See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Sports)
In addition the channel offers baseball, basketball, football, and other sporting events from University of Florida , Florida State University , and the SEC. Longtime partnered with FSU & UF, Sun Sports produces all regular season football games for both schools and airs them statewide on a next-day delay basis. The network also has the rights to the FHSAA Football and Basketball Finals.
Ohio State sold its third tier rights for $110 million for 10 years just two years ago:http://www.cbssports.com/general/story/11569497. In fact, most schools in BCS conferences have done the same. The individuals behind this website did an open records request recently to determine how much revenue schools made that wasn’t from conference distribution…which inherently meant it was from selling their third tier rights. They did some incredible research that is summarized here:http://businessofcollegesports.com/2011/05/06/school-specific-broadcasting-revenue/. I highly recommend looking closely at the numbers (they are from the 2009-2010 academic year). Obviously, if it were done for a year later, Ohio State would be at the top with its 10 year, $110 million deal. You’ll notice that three of the top five third tier revenue recipients were basketball schools (North Carolina with $11.2M, Kentucky with $7.7M, and the Big 12’s own Kansas with a whopping $7.3M). That is no coincidence as there are a lot more opportunities for third tier carriers to show those primetime teams in basketball due to the sheer volume of basketball games relative to football games. It’s also no coincidence that half of the top 12 recipients were powerhouse SEC football programs (Alabama, Florida, LSU, Tennessee, Georgia, and Auburn). Those teams have extremely large, passionate fanbases that watch whatever someone puts in front of them, as long as it relates to their football team. All of these provide lots of regionally impressive ratings opportunities and a positive economic model from an advertising/distribution standpoint.
And then, there’s the Big 12. Rather unbelievably, Kansas is top dog in third tier rights revenue (ten times the combined amount Texas and Oklahoma made in 2009-2010), Oklahoma State is second, and our old friend Nebraska is third…with $4.3M in third tier revenues. Of course, that’s consistent with what you read in the Omaha World Herald story posted above when Nebraska stated it was working on its own networks and external consultants had told them it was feasible. So the question that must be answered…where was the fury, the angst, the extremely harsh feelings and words for Kansas, Oklahoma State, and Nebraska when they made these extremely lucrative deals that were exclusive to their department…not shared with the conference? Why doesn’t everyone in the ACC flip out and throw a stammering hissy fit over the fact that North Carolina made four times as much as the next highest recipient in the conference on its third tier rights?
The fact of the matter is…if Texas A&M is leaving the Big 12 because they don’t believe it’s fair for its conference mates to be making so much money off its third tier rights that aren’t shared with the rest of the conference, they are likely to be sobered by the fact that the SEC schools took home over $52 million collectively in in 2009-2010 on third tier rights revenues. Irony to say the least. [opinion] One of the many instances of myopia TAMU is operating with in my opinion. [/opinion]
So what is different about the Longhorn Network when it comes to rights? Absolutely nothing. The only difference of any kind from any of these other schools is they are the first to get an entire network dedicated to those rights that is partnered with ESPN who as I said, practically controls college football at this point. From the very little I have seen thus far and from what I have been told by viewers that subscribe to early adopting carriers, the Longhorn Network is operating at a first class level all the way and that the production quality, content programming lineups, and integration into UT athletics has been rather incredible and exceeding the expectations for fans. Can I understand the resentment? Yes. Can I see why fans of other schools might use this as just another reason to believe that Texas “gets all the breaks?” Yes. Have the Longhorns become everyone’s Yankees? Yes. But the fact of the matter is, Texas is not doing anything that a) is outside the bylaws of the conference or NCAA rules, b) is not doing anything that other schools haven’t been doing for years and making extraordinary amounts of unshared revenues on, c) should be any surprise to any conference mates (particularly TAMU who Texas attempted to bring in to the whole thing), and d) that is actually destabilizing the Big 12 Conference. However, it makes an easy target to feed the relatively uninformed masses’ confirmation bias when it comes to their perception of greed, arrogance, and bullying from the University of Texas.
