The Texas Network...Watch With Caution

Originally Published: Jan 19, 2011 7:22 PM CDTTexas and ESPN have agreed to launch a new Texas University Network.&#160; The Longhorns will reap approximately 80%

Thursday, May 26th 2011, 1:32 pm

By: News On 6

Originally Published: Jan 19, 2011 7:22 PM CDT

Texas and ESPN have agreed to launch a new Texas University Network.  The Longhorns will reap approximately 80% of the $300 million that ESPN is handing out over the next 20 years. The rich get richer. Consider this part of the concession on the part of other Big 12 schools to help the Longhorns regain revenue the conference will lose when Nebraska and Colorado leave.  League officials, however, do believe conference revenue will increase when new television contracts are negotiated. What does the Texas Broadcasting Network mean? It doesn’t mean you’ll have to pay extra money to get OU vs. Texas or OSU vs. Texas events, at least in the major sports for the time being.   The new network is outside the boundaries of the current Big 12 deals with ABC/ESPN and Fox.  Football and men’s basketball between the three schools will almost always be broadcast on an ESPN, CBS or Fox channel. Cable systems in Texas, parts of Oklahoma and possibly parts of Louisiana will make the Texas Network channel available.  It will also likely be a part of premium packages or its own stand-alone channel on satellite providers. Football still drives the bus and I would imagine the new ESPN-Texas channel will bank huge dollars from pregame and postgame show surrounding Longhorn football games even though the games themselves will be broadcast on other networks. What many associated with the Big 12 fear as that Texas will follow the leads of Notre Dame and BYU and go independent on football.  If revenue is high for this new network, what kind of money might Texas be able to generate with its own football television network?   That’s a legitimate concern.  Losing Texas football could be disastrous for the Big 12.   Watch the new Texas University Network if you will, but do so with a cautious eye toward the future.