A UT athletic dept employee told me....

2-3 years ago Texas approached us about a possible joint network with Texas and A&M. At the time the carrier was going to be Fox, and they wanted to split the costs evenly but split the revenue either 40-60 or 30-70 favoring them. At the time, the network was estimated to be worth $4-5 mil/yr. Our AD told them no due to the split and high-risk, low-reward situation.

When Texas started talking with ESPN and a network seemed more viable, I believe we called them back saying we were interested, but they declined. No one outside of Texas had any idea how much money the network was going to involve, nor the stipulations about showing conference games and highschool content on it.

Our AD absolutely did not turn down half of a $300 million contract, but Texas has been spinning it to make it look like we did and are now jealous. It's all bullshite.

Simply not true.

Bill Byrne says:

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Some of you have asked me, “Isn’t it true you had a chance to join Texas in the ESPN venture and would have had a joint channel?” Three or four years ago we talked about doing a joint flagship channel. I liked the idea, but our fans should know me better than to think I would pass on a $150 million deal for Texas A&M. That never happened.

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Source

sorry.. there has been more said in other articles but that was the only one I could find quickly. Basically, we were not willing to bankroll our own studios and TV Vans with staff to do a TV network when we only have a few football games a year.

how much interest is there in all the other sports? Even if we have basketball and baseball, will people pay for that?

Furthermore, we already broadcast most of our sporting events on our aggieathletics website. We use the same company as LSU(NeuLion), and it is really nice(and free).

Why go to all that trouble to do TV, when in the next 10 years, all TV's will have internet?

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At that time the cost was high and the revenue was low, and Texas wanted the revenue split 70-30. Byrne refused.

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Do you have a link/source to back up this 70/30 claim? If not, then you're just talking shite.

The idea of a Big 12 network was shot down by the conference members, as well as the joint Lonestar Network was shot down by A&M. Texas then decided to strike out on its own and package their Tier 3 rights instead of basically letting them go to waste.

If you dig up Tier 3 revenue numbers from just a few years ago, Texas was making peanuts(compared to other schools) and decided to better use those rights to establish another revenue stream. FYI, 50% of the revenue generated from the LHN goes to the university...this isn't just money for the AD and the football team.

You are correct that Byrne never turned down 150 mil because at the time neither he nor Dodds/Texas realized the coin that ESPN would eventually put down on the LHN.

Maybe Byrne dismissed the opportunity a little too soon. Of course, if he had not, there would be one less excuse for others to use for leaving the conference. It's simpler to blame big, bad Texas for starting its own network and running everyone from the Big 12.

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Also, it is hard not to blame big bad texas when they didn't even consider equal revenue sharing of tier 1 and 2 rights until after 3 teams bolted. It took the Pac12 saying piss off, and the rest of the conference leaving to get texas to budge on that point.

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This tells me that you are not well informed on the workings of this conference. FYI, Texas, NU, OU, and one other school were all proponents of the unequal revenue sharing model that the Big 12 used...Texas A&M.

Also, when the first two teams left, the remaining members with the exception of TX,OU, and A&M, agreed to give those 3 schools their cut of the exit fees as another incentive to stay and keep the conference together. TX and OU declined the offer while only the Aggies took their cut of that money. I guess that money will come in handy to eventually help pay your own exit fees...nice.

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Your whole post confirms UT's mentality as to how the LHN was approached. Instead of UT being the leader, frontrunner, consensus gathering visionary that it should have been, they approached it as what's in it for us. The only reason UT brought in ATM was to help pony up the dough. UT could have bankrolled an entire BIG 12 network, benefitting the entire conference AND had priority broadcasting in the state of Texas for all UT sports. It's a damn shame and make no mistake about it, we're not sheep sitting on the fence, we see the whole thing unraveling and UT, instead of acting like the leader they are in the conference made a power move that was unnecessary that blew up in yalls face. The Big 12 should have never blown like this...never, but the blood is on UT's hands

Out.

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I wanna go into business with you...you pony up the dough as the leader/visionary and I'll help you split the profits Also, the fact remains, that both a conference network, and a joint network was proposed before Texas went out on their own...not exactly the makings of a power move.

Out.

There is little market for the LHN, as evidenced by it's shitty distribution.

ESPN overpayed for the LHN in an effort to placate UT and stop conference realignment. Remember, UT had packaged up the 1/2 of the Big XII and had worked a deal to ship everyone to the PAC in 2010.

It wasn't until they tried to keep the LHN that the PAC deal fell through.

ESPN overpaid UT, hoping for stability, but miscalculated. An extra $300M for one conference member proved more, not less, unstable for other conference members.

FUTEXAS is arrogant PERIOD. They ruin everything in time...

I have enjoyed giving A&M posters hell on here but actually I am really looking forward to a restored rivalry that means more to me then Arkansas.

That said, there is enough blood on the hands of UT and A&M, Nebraska and Missouri that I'm amazed OU continues to put up with the conference.

UT did some things to improve the conference. They dominated Nebraska, the king of the Big 8. But when the big guys screwed the little guys with unequal revenue the conference was doomed.

Do I wish the Big12 was in tact. Hell yes. I prefer an SEC of 12 teams and I'm proud we don't shite on Vandy, KU, Ole Myth and MSU.

Now. Play ball.