TX AD on conference re-alignment

[lv99]

And how is the Big 12 going to get that TV money? Who is giving it them? ESPN or whoever takes the Tier 1 Big Ten rights in a couple years? The BTN on the Tier 2 rights?

The Big 12 is going to have to go to court to try and get that money just as the Big East had to go to court to try and get WVU to stay.

Good luck seeing a dime of the TV monies. What the Big 12 will see is a negotiated price for reneging on the GOR which won't come anywhere near the full value of Texas' TV rights but will likely be more than a $20 million exit fee.

Everyone wants to equate the Big 12 GOR with the GOR the Big Ten (and now the Pac-12) has. The difference is that each member institution has an equity share of the BTN and whatever the Pac Network will call itself. The BTN is valued at 3 billion dollars. No institution is likely to walk away from an asset that is currently worth $127 million on the books.

There is no comparing the two situations. And if Texas wants to join the BiG (which they don't), I'm sure the BiG will make them an equity partner right away so paying somewhere between $25-$30 million for reneging on the GOR is chicken feed in the long term.

Cheers,
Neil

My suggestion would be for you to search for "grant of rights" in Google and read the many articles out there on why a grant of rights contract is considered unbreakable... It sounds like to me you think that because West Virginia got out of their contract, anyone else can get out of any contract anytime they feel like it, and that anybody can get away with anything legally.

The reason West Virginia got out of their contract was because courts normally don't issue injunctions or mandate specific performance when awarding damages is possible. But if I were to sign my car over to someone, I couldn't come back a week later and say I wanted it back... There were be zero chance the courts would side with me.

 

[huskypantz]

How so?

Here you go............

The conference would own the rights.

 

[huskypantz]

My suggestion would be for you to search for "grant of rights" in Google and read the many articles out there on why a grant of rights contract is considered unbreakable... It sounds like to me you think that because West Virginia got out of their contract, anyone else can get out of any contract anytime they feel like it, and that anybody can get away with anything legally.

The reason West Virginia got out of their contract was because courts normally don't issue injunctions or mandate specific performance when awarding damages is possible. But if I were to sign my car over to someone, I couldn't come back a week later and say I wanted it back... There were be zero chance the courts would side with me.

It doesn't matter if the grant of rights is "unbreakable". If Texas left for the B1G, Texas will not own the rights for B1G conference games they play in because, as you responded to me previously, the CONFERENCE OWNS THE RIGHTS. Texas just plays in the games - they CANNOT grant rights to something that they do not inherently own the rights on. The B12 can demand Texas's media rights when they become a member, but what rights does Texas own? Probably just OOC home games, and the B12 can't touch their tier 3's out of that bucket either.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Any network or conference that tried to pay a school a nickel of revenue when that school was in violation of a GOR agreement would be immediately liable for Tortious Interference claims, potentially for the entire amount of any damages sustained by the school in question's prior conference. Good luck getting anyone to jump on that hand grenade.

 

[huskypantz]

This would go to court first, just like WVU. The new conference would not pay the school a dime until a settlement was reached and the school had been granted a release. No TI.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

This would go to court first, just like WVU. The new conference would not pay the school a dime until a settlement was reached and the school had been granted a release. No TI.

This is nothing at all like WVU. This is as far from WVU as Melbourne, Australia is from Storrs.

No TV network or conference could pay Texas a single penny of revenue if Texas left the Big 12. Here is what would happen if they so much as sent Texas a fruit basket after Texas tried to walk away from a GOR.

1) The Big 12 would ask for and get an almost immediate injunction preventing anyone from paying Texas or its new conference a nickel for broadcasting Texas' sporting events, or broadcasting those events in the first place. In case you are wondering, if you ignore a court injunction, you go to jail for contempt.

2) Any network or conference that induced Texas to leave the Big 12 and walk on its GOR would now be liable for the entire amount of damages to the Big 12, times three.

3) Criminal penalties may attach if it could be proven there was a fraudulent transfer of assets or a deliberate copyright infringement.

A GOR is not the kind of thing you can just beat in court.

 

[The Funster]

So, I take these GOR's are available for any one to review? Are they on the net?

 

[omniorange]

My suggestion would be for you to search for "grant of rights" in Google and read the many articles out there on why a grant of rights contract is considered unbreakable... It sounds like to me you think that because West Virginia got out of their contract, anyone else can get out of any contract anytime they feel like it, and that anybody can get away with anything legally.

The reason West Virginia got out of their contract was because courts normally don't issue injunctions or mandate specific performance when awarding damages is possible. But if I were to sign my car over to someone, I couldn't come back a week later and say I wanted it back... There were be zero chance the courts would side with me.

There simply is no such thing as "unbreakable" nowadays. If you think otherwise, then so be it.

Let's play the scenario out. Big Ten Tier 1 rights are won by NBC. Texas joins the BiG along with ND. NBC and BTN are televising all the games.

NBC pays the Big Ten. BTN/Fox entity pays the rest to the conference. They aren't sending the Big 12 conference this money. The Big Ten conference is then distributing the checks to its members institutions.

How does the Big 12 get Texas' TV monies from Texas? The only way they can do it is through a long messy court case. Where is the Big 12 conference located again? Texas I believe.

Again, good luck seeing a dime of it. About three years after the court case has started, a settlement agreement is reached.

That is how this will go if Texas leaves, which they aren't.

Cheers,
Neil