Big 12 media rights deal: Long-term commitments from 2 network giants ensure steady cash flow for Big 12 until 2031 season

There has been some movement with the Big 12, as they announced an extension of their media rights deal with ESPN and FOX. The deal is going to be going through the 2030-31 academic year, but the financial terms of the extension have not been disclosed yet.

In a statement from Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark, he thanked the network giants while discussing the news.

"We would like to thank both ESPN and FOX for their continued partnership. Additionally, we'd like to thank the team at Endeavor and Proskauer for their contributions throughout this process.

"This deal does not only provides stability for the Big 12 in years to come, but it creates a strong foundation for future growth and innovation."

Yormark has been one of the biggest innovators in college football, and that has been a major piece to the puzzle as to why this extension has happened at this point.

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Why did FOX and ESPN extend their partnership with Big 12?

The Big 12 has been one of the biggest innovators in the world of college football, and Brett Yormark has been a huge reason for that.

He has been behind the thought process of new things to make the conference stand out, like attempting to bring a bowl game to Mexico and expand their programs internationally.

There's also the thought process that there could be the possibility of expansion with programs like the Notre Dame Fighting Irish joining the fray. It would not be too far-fetched to expect more expansion, as they already have four new programs joining in 2023 - the UCF Knights, Houston Cougars, Cincinnati Bearcats and BYU Cougars - but could see more top-level programs joining.

One big rumor has been the Colorado Buffaloes. Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders is leading the program and with a record number of transfer portal recruits, they're looking like a brand-new team that could contend well.

With the Pac-12 not looking like a serious conference in terms of expanding until they get their own media rights situated, it will be difficult to imagine their survival going forward, so expect more teams to be looking for a new home.

The Big 12 has done very well in their media rights negotiation and has continued to be arguably the third conference in the Power Five, behind the Southeastern and Big Ten Conferences. Anything other than saying it's a massive success does not make sense.