Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby is accusing ESPN of attempting to destabilize the conference by encouraging other conferences to woo members to leave, as Texas and Oklahoma attempt to move to the SEC without paying a massive buyout.
“I have absolute certainty that they (ESPN) have been involved in manipulating other conferences to go after our members,” Big 12 Commissioner Bowlsby told The Associated Press on Wednesday after sending a cease-and-desist letter to the network.
The letter addressed to ESPN executive Burke Magnus, President of Programming and Content, said the Big 12 had become aware the network had taken actions “to not only harm the Big 12 Conference but to result in financial benefits for ESPN.”
In 2021, ESPN signed a $3 billion contract with the SEC that will give the network exclusive broadcast rights for conference games starting in 2024.
Commissioner Bowlsby says that ESPN is “actively engaging in discussions with at least one other conference regarding efforts to induce remaining members of the Big 12 to leave”. A person with knowledge of the situation reported to the AP that Bowlsby was referring to the American Athletic Conference, which currently includes schools that could print the Big 12’s historical footprint, like Tulsa, SMU, Houston, and Memphis.
