Report: Big 12 officially signs television contract running through 2031 with FOX, ESPN
The Big 12’s future on television is secured. On Friday, the Power Five conference struck a major deal.
“The Big 12 has signed and executed its long-form television contracts with FOX and ESPN for the TV deal slated to begin in July of 2025. The deal runs through 2031,” ESPN’s Pete Thamel wrote on Twitter.
“This is the formalization and completion of the deal announced in October, the process of which began when the Big 12 opened its negotiation window nearly a year early. The Big 12’s attention now moves to finalizing a data deal, which is expected in the upcoming weeks,” Thamel added.
The deal is expected to generate a significant uptick in revenue for Big 12 programs. Reportedly, the deal is estimated to increase the Big 12’s media presence from $220 million annually to $380 million. For reference, that’s an average media revenue increase per school of $9.2 million.
This deal progressed despite Texas and Oklahoma leaving the conference in 2024 to join the SEC. This media deal will expire in 2031, one year after the Big Ten’s media contract expires. Additionally, the contract will run dry before the SEC (2034) and ACC’s (2036) deals expire.
Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark publicly announced his thoughts after inking the deal.
“The Big 12 Conference is thrilled to announce it has executed its long-form agreements for the extension of its media rights with partners ESPN and Fox through the 2030-31 academic year. We would like to thank both ESPN and Fox for their continued partnership. Additionally, we’d like to thank the teams at Endeavor and Proskauer for their contributions throughout this process. This deal not only provides stability for the Big 12 in years to come, but it creates a strong foundation for future growth and innovation,” Yormark wrote.
Yormark took over for former commissioner Bob Bowlsby on Aug. 1, 2022. The 56-year-old executive was previously at Roc Nation, where he served as COO and co-CEO of Roc Nation Unified, the commercial side of the business.