The penalty that the not-quite-so Big 12 looks to hit Nebraska with for joining the Big Ten isn’t for 15 yards.
It could be for $15 million.
Look for attorneys on both sides to get a workout with that kind of money at stake.
Commissioner Dan Beebe didn’t respond to a World-Herald request Tuesday for answers to two questions:
Does the Big 12 expect to end up in court against Nebraska? And with the TV money the Big 12 says it will soon make, are any liquidated damage payments needed to make anyone whole?
“We’ll leave that to the lawyers," Texas President William Powers said Tuesday. “I think the conference rules are clear on that."
Nebraska Chancellor Harvey Perlman, in an interview Tuesday on KLIN Radio, said he doesn’t want to go to court. But he also doesn’t see the need to forgo money in order to change leagues.
“I thought in the context, (an exit fee) would be inappropriate," Perlman said. “From what I understand the Big 12 has done, I think it’s even more inappropriate."
No money would be taken out of any current Nebraska account to exit.
What the Huskers might lose out on is up to 80 percent of the conference revenue distribution they otherwise would have been in line to receive over two fiscal years.
The most recent figures available (2008-09) showed NU getting $9.73 million from the Big 12. Over a two-year span using that figure, the Huskers would forfeit about $15.5 million under Big 12 bylaws.
The money potentially forfeited by Nebraska and Colorado, which is headed to the Pacific 10, was highlighted Tuesday during discussion of incentives made to keep the Big 12 together as a 10-team league.
The five so-called “leftover" schools — Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri and Baylor — came to an agreement, Beebe said. They wanted to entice Texas, Texas A&M and Oklahoma to stay by giving them more money.
Said Beebe: “They were willing, if necessary — and I fully anticipate when we do our future media deals it won’t be — to use some of the distribution they might get particularly from the departing members to make sure Texas A&M, Oklahoma and Texas were induced to stay."
Texas was appreciative of that gesture, Beebe said, though UT indicated it wasn’t “a driver for them to stay."
UT’s Powers said that there were no perks for the Longhorns.
“We do not have any guarantees from the league or our northern partners," Powers said. “There have been reports that there is going to be a special deal for some of us, using penalty money or other money to guarantee Texas and other schools of particular value.
“We are not part of that. That was not part of our consideration, and we oppose that kind of deal. We will distribute money in the Big 12 according to the normal distribution."
Texas and other schools will be allowed to pursue their own TV networks under the new Big 12 framework.
Some news organizations have speculated that Big 12 schools, under new network and cable TV deals, will each get $14 million to $17 million per year.
But there are no new TV deals yet. The Big 12’s contract with Fox runs through 2011-12, and the agreement with ABC/ESPN goes through 2015-16.
Yet Beebe is confident of good times ahead.
“We have extremely strong verification based on analysis by our consultants and media companies that we are in a tremendous position to execute future agreements that will put our member institutions on par with any in the country," he said, declining to project the amounts.
Other items of note in a downsized Big 12:
• Expansion: Beebe said the league is “comfortable" with 10 members, meaning a nine-game conference football schedule and an 18-game double round-robin in basketball.
“We’re not looking to expand at all," he said. “And certainly we wouldn’t look to expand with any institutions in our geographic five-state area."
• Football title game: The Big 12 is unsure if it will petition the NCAA to allow a title game with 10 members. The current rule is conferences must have at least 12 teams in two divisions.
“My colleagues would support having less than 12 members and still have a conference championship," Beebe said.
“But I’m not sure if we’re going to do that. There are a lot of benefits to having a nine-game schedule and scheduling out to that weekend in December — and not having the potential to knock off a team headed to the national championship."
• A league name change: “I don’t know," Beebe said. “I don’t want to give my indication now of what I think, and then have my members say, ‘What the heck are you thinking about?’”
Contact the writer:
444-1024, lee.barfknecht@owh.com
Copyright ©2012 Omaha World-Herald®. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, displayed or redistributed for any purpose without permission from the Omaha World-Herald.
RSS Feeds