The long-awaited move by the Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners, plus their respective satellites, to the Pac-12 is almost here, according to reports. The most prominent: the Austin-American Statesman reports the two and the Oklahoma St. Cowboys and Texas Tech Red Raiders are "working out the final details of a deal."
Pac-12 Expansion: Texas, Oklahoma And Friends Nearing Move, According To Reports
The most interesting piece of that report, which also brings up pod scheduling, is how the Pac-12 could handle the Longhorn Network, given the conference’s stringent revenue sharing requirements. In exchange for the Texaswide Leader having to carry Pac-12 content, there could be a built-in way for Texas to still profit from the open-market sale of its third-tier media rights. That’s the way we’re reading it, at least.
According to the report:
The Longhorns would be able to keep all of their revenue from the network if that amount is greater than one-sixteenth of what the entire Pac-12 receives for its third-tier rights. However, if one-sixteenth of the money the Pac-12 receives from third-tier rights ends up being a larger amount, the schools would divide the revenue evenly.
The Longhorn Network could become the burnt orange version of the Pac-Whatever Network. This is one of the first things in the entire conference realignment maze that sounds like it makes complete sense for everybody involved, right?
For more on these schools, check out Texas Longhorns blog Burnt Orange Nation, Oklahoma Sooners blog Crimson And Cream Machine, Oklahoma State blog Cowboys Ride For Free and Texas Tech blog Double T Nation. And Pac-12 blog Pacific Takes.
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