Big 12 could sell football and basketball rights separately in next TV deals

When it comes to broadcast deals for college conferences, bundling all sports together has been the customary practice. If the SEC sells its rights to ESPN, that deal includes football, basketball, soccer, swimming, and any number of other sports the conference participates in. Same for the Big Ten. Fox, CBS, and NBC all share inventory in non-football sports, at least to a degree.

It’s no secret that football drives the vast majority of the value for these deals. Industry sources peg the split at about 90% football-driven, with every other sport accounting for about 10% of the value of these deals, according to Puck’s John Ourand. In other words, everything other than football is largely an afterthought.

But that may not be the case for very much longer. College basketball, both men’s and women’s, has continued to be a strong viewership driver for networks after football season ends. And at least one major conference commissioner sees potential in separating its basketball inventory from its football inventory.

Per Ourand, Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark has “intimated” that the conference will consider selling its football and basketball packages separately when its current deals expire before the 2031 season.

The idea makes sense on paper. Some media companies might be better able to utilize the Big 12’s basketball inventory than others. And those media companies aren’t necessarily the same ones that want to buy the Big 12’s football rights. By addressing this market inefficiency, the Big 12 could eke out a bit more value from its inventory.

There are already some indications that college basketball is an undervalued property.

The Big East, which does not participate in D-I football, is earning $80 million annually from Fox, NBC, and Warner Bros. Discovery for its basketball rights. Apply the 90/10 split that industry insiders suggest is the breakdown between football and other sports for major conference media rights deals, and the Big East’s basketball rights are being valued higher than every single conference other than the Big Ten. Using the 90/10 heuristic, Big East basketball is being valued at more than double the ACC and Big 12 rates.

Now, the Big East is a great basketball conference. I’m not disputing that. But are its basketball games worth double what ACC and Big 12 games are currently valued at? Are they worth more than the SEC? The answer is probably not, which is exactly why Yormark thinks splitting the inventory will generate more revenue.

Using the Big East as a case study, it seems that networks will pay more for standalone college basketball rights than they will when the same inventory is bundled with football.

As conferences continue to look for loose change buried in the couch cushions, splitting football inventory from their other sports could be the next trend in how college media rights deals are formulated.