Big 12 money will impact UC athletic revenue, reach

The University of Cincinnati, along with Central Florida (UCF) and Houston will all pay the American Athletic Conference $18 million, payable over the next 14 years.

That was the negotiated exit fee for all three former AAC schools to join the Big 12 early on Saturday, July 1 instead of waiting another year. Next year, Oklahoma and Texas will fork over $100 million to the conference as they bolt for the Southeastern Conference. UC, BYU, UCF and Houston will not share in those funds with the money being distributed to the eight continuing members of the conference.

However, UC's annual distribution from the new conference will be significant. By making the College Football Playoff in 2021, UC earned $6 million to be distributed by the AAC to member teams. The ESPN media deal which began in 2020 earned a little less than $7 million per school. That's all about to take a Big 12 leap.

What is the Big 12 media rights deal?

Completed last fall by Commissioner Brett Yormark prior to the agreed-upon negotiating window, the Big 12 added a six-year extension for $2.28 billion which runs through 2030-31. Yormark worked with partners Endeavor and IMG Media and increased the annual average value nearly 73% according to the Sports Business Journal. The deal with ESPN and Fox has an annual average of $380 million per year and is projected to pay each school $31.7 million. Translated, UC has quadrupled what they were earning in the AAC.

“There’s a lot of momentum with the commissioner Brett Yormark and everything the Big 12’s doing,” UC AD John Cunningham said. “We’re in a great spot.”

What airs on ESPN or Fox?

The arrangement calls for ESPN to get the top four football picks this season, six of the top eight, eight of the top 12 and 12 of the top 20 games. The World Wide Leader also gets rights to the Big 12 football championship and basketball championship.

The Fox package includes 26 football games that will run on Fox and FS1.

How does UC's Big 12 deal compare with the Big Ten, SEC?

The Big 12 is currently third in per-year payouts in research done by USA Today's Steve Berkowitz. Leading the pack of Power Five conferences is the Big Ten which has a seven-year $8 billion dollar deal with CBS, Fox and NBC. This pays the conference $1.1 billion per year with some estimates of schools getting $67 million each. Minus ESPN, the Big Ten has the time zones covered with a Fox game at noon, CBS at 3:30 and NBC involved with "Big Ten Saturday Night".

The SEC has a 10-year deal worth $7.1 billion that will feature ESPN as CBS shifts to the Big Ten after 2023. Per school payouts from this deal have been estimated in the $51-55 million range. Would this feature more SEC venues on ESPN's popular GameDay program? The answer is somewhat obvious.

What about the ACC?

They're not happy locked into a deal with ESPN through 2036. According to Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports, ACC schools could be earning $30 million less per year in payouts than the Big Ten and SEC. The league's grant of rights clause also holds the schools to a $120 million buyout for leaving early. The league appears to be leaning toward performance-based incentives for distribution.

The Pac-12?

A new deal is expected soon, but the current one is about to expire. The Big 12's proactive early deal has added a sense of urgency, along with the flirtations of some schools with the Big 12 (Colorado, Arizona). The ESPN and Fox current deal expires in 2024 and the conference has lost Los Angeles to the Big Ten with the departures of UCLA and Southern Cal. Current per-school payouts for the Pac-12 are fifth of the Power Five conferences according to numbers acquired by USA Today.

How Big 12 prestige has impacted recruiting

Football coach Scott Satterfield's crew just had a huge recruiting weekend and top-notch players continue to visit and/or commit. Earlier this summer, UC's 2024 class was rated higher than any of the other Big 12 schools though they hadn't yet played a game at Nippert Stadium in the new league. As of June 11, the Bearcats were still second among the 2024 rankings trailing only Texas Tech.

“It’s a lot of talk for media people and fans and that type of thing,” Satterfield said. “If you’re not picked high, you’ve got to go out there and prove it. As a coach, you have to prove it anyway. I think we’re putting together a football team that’s going to be very competitive to go out there and compete in the Big 12.”

Men's basketball coach Wes Miller has also experienced success selling the Big 12 and trails only Iowa State, Baylor and Kansas State among Big schools (as of June 11) in rankings via 247Sports.com for the 2024 class.

“The Big 12 has changed our ability to recruit in a lot of ways,” Miller said. “The impact of the recruiting goes back to the announcement of going to the Big 12.  Any kid knowing they would play in the Big 12 their incoming year, it’s impacted that recruiting.”

Coming soon

UC opens up the Big 12 football menu by hosting Oklahoma at Nippert on Sept. 23. Before that, the UC women's volleyball team will host UCF at Fifth Third Arena on Sept. 21-22.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: UC to earn a much bigger piece of pie in Big 12 athletics