UT fans are already shouting SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY!

Have not seen any discussion on the anti trust exemption that the NCAA has. Starr used this as a hammer when A&M and others left to keep the conference together. ???

Us when UT comes to town

boognish_bear said:

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Aliceinbubbleland said:

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I can't help but wonder how cordial and trusting the 8 AD's are of each other. This is like the World Series of Poker. I doubt UT and OU attend.

I also hope the AD's bring their legal department with them to the meeting.

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Yep....definitely some interesting political theater ahead watching all of this unfold. Schools that normally have no love for each other are suddenly bonded by the mission to stick it to UT and OU. Bears and Frogs working together??

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The TCU broadcaster yesterday on Smoak's show called them "holding hands".

Aliceinbubbleland said:

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UT fans are already shouting SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY!

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Right. And none of them have the foggiest idea how sovereign immunity would work here. They seem to think that sovereign immunity lets them cancel contracts and just make them go away for everybody involved.

Big 12 meeting tomorrow

Quinton said:

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First glanced at this yesterday thinking its just typical maneuverings but if he has actual evidence (and I have to assume he wouldn't continue to pitch that publicly and put himself in serious trouble without it) espn, the aac, and potentially the SEC could stand to get hammered. He probably has it direct from one of the institutions. The aac and espn probably pitched one or more of the schools which anybody with a brain should have known a school being pitched by the aac of all places wouldn't be in the best mood.

This is easily a potential 9 figure case assuming the allegations are legitimate. Now some of the legal minds here can answer but if you could have grounds to rack on est damages and other eco impact figures in addition to the huge remaining portion of the big 12 contract and gor's.. could get wild.

I wonder if you file in say a WV or Kansas court. Im not familiar with all the appellate courts in various states and their reputations but Im sure someone here could answer what the ideal court location and state would be. Wouldn't want a ruling only to be likely overturned

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His quote about it said that he has documentary evidence of his allegation. So apparently someone turned over recordings, emails, fax letter correspondence etc., I'm guessing if he is making that claim.

Sports Attorney @SportsLawLust joined @3ManFront to discuss the Big 12's current legal issues with ESPN and if the conference is using this as a negotiation ploy. pic.twitter.com/r4lIk5iJyH

— WJOX 94.5 FM (@WJOX945) July 29, 2021

Stefano Di said:

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I see Mack and Linda met with Governor Abbott and Costello Tuesday.

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Hope they were circumspect about what they shared with the UT governor.

If the legal threat is a ploy, it will fold quickly. None of the 8 want to wait around for a fake legal ploy before moving on.

I'm very curious whether the legal allegations slow down the sec vote. Whether or not that happens I think they will likely slow down additional moves by conferences because lawyers are going to be needing to take a close look at everything. And the factual allegations bowlsby is making will likely take some time to investigate. Likely will be impossible for lawyers to make decisions about the allegations until they see all the relevant documents and talk to the witnesses, which they likely don't currently have access to, meaning they have to give a risk assessment without all the relevant facts which we hate to do.

That being said I wouldn't be surprised to see vote postponed because a bunch of lawyers are going to have to conclude the vote won't compromise the sec's ( and maybe espns) legal positions.

It's also hard for sec and ESPN to communicate about strategy any more because all of their communications likely become discoverable in the impending litigation.

Ewalker80 said:

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I'm very curious whether the legal allegations slow down the sec vote. Whether or not that happens I think they will likely slow down additional moves by conferences because lawyers are going to be needing to take a close look at everything. And the factual allegations bowlsby is making will likely take some time to investigate. Likely will be impossible for lawyers to make decisions about the allegations until they see all the relevant documents and talk to the witnesses, which they likely don't currently have access to, meaning they have to give a risk assessment without all the relevant facts which we hate to do.

That being said I wouldn't be surprised to see vote postponed because a bunch of lawyers are going to have to conclude the vote won't compromise the sec's ( and maybe espns) legal positions.

It's also hard for sec and ESPN to communicate about strategy any more because all of their communications likely become discoverable in the impending litigation.

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Burner phone shipments to Bristol, Connecticut have jumped the last few days, I bet.

Aliceinbubbleland said:

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I can't help but wonder how cordial and trusting the 8 AD's are of each other. This is like the World Series of Poker. I doubt UT and OU attend.

I also hope the AD's bring their legal department with them to the meeting.

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Can't trust anyone, can't blast anyone. You might think you have a deal/alliance until the hand is shown.

It seems to me that ESPN wants to just sweep the remaining eight in a corner. The Big12 might be able to win this, ut it might be Pyrrhic. They could force a consolidation of the ACC and SEC, then the PAC and B1G. They could say to the parties involved not to invite any of the remaining eight or maybe just a few.

So no one is going to ask the obvious question of "what the hell is going on w/ bowlsby's signature?", huh?

ESPN has responded to the Big 12: pic.twitter.com/EkWa3Y2c9z

— Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) July 29, 2021

gobears20 said:

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ESPN has responded to the Big 12: pic.twitter.com/EkWa3Y2c9z

— Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) July 29, 2021

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To sum ESPN's letter up in one sentence:

Looks like he was having a stroke in that siggggggggggnature.

&ct=g

gobears20 said:

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Sports Attorney @SportsLawLust joined @3ManFront to discuss the Big 12's current legal issues with ESPN and if the conference is using this as a negotiation ploy. pic.twitter.com/r4lIk5iJyH

— WJOX 94.5 FM (@WJOX945) July 29, 2021

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This is a Birmingham sports station. Of course they are going to find an attorney that sides with them to have on air.

Bob fires back

New statement from Bob Bowlsby pic.twitter.com/yq1xFYmecg

— Max Olson (@max_olson) July 29, 2021

I hope he isn't running up the white flag. I guess this is his attempt to say everything is ok for four more years.

Yeah, that screams defeat.

Yeah that's a white flag if I've ever seen one.

Well, throw-up!

Regarding 2025 exit by Texas and OU, worth noting this quote from Big 12's Bob Bowlsby: "Because we can’t get any information out of Texas or OU, I make the assumption they will stay in our league as long as they have to and will try to get themselves out as soon as they can."

— Chuck Carlton (@ChuckCarltonDMN) July 29, 2021

NEW from @KSherringtonDMN:

Bob Bowlsby’s war with ESPN is not one he, or the Big 12, can win#conferencerealignment | #HookEm https://t.co/afqoeI0yed

— SportsDayDFW (@SportsDayDFW) July 29, 2021

Bob Bowlsby's war with ESPN is not one he, or the Big 12, can win

Bowlsby voiced his outrage with ESPN's involvement in Texas and OU moving to the SEC.

Now that Bob Bowlsby has gone Network and essentially declared he's not going to take ESPN's money anymore, a ploy sure to play well in Waco and Lubbock and Lawrence and Ames, the question remains:

If the Big 12 is to survive long term, who'll pay for it once its media contracts are up in 2025?

Fox? CBS? Amazon?

Hulu?

Because as fun as it was to see ESPN called out for its excesses, you've still got to pay the bills. The unholy partnership has always necessitated a certain quid pro quo. Like when ESPN made the Big 12 take West Virginia over Louisville. Or told Boston College to block UConn's move to the ACC. This is the way TV suits do business. The mafia isn't a silent partner, either.

Of course, encouraging the American Athletic Conference to poach Big 12 members in an effort to hasten its demise thus freeing Texas and Oklahoma to join the SEC sooner, and without $80 million in penalties is downright diabolical. Bowlsby minced no words in spelling out exactly those charges.

My favorite: "articulation of deception." Sounds like '50s film noir.

ESPN issued a second round of denials Thursday, this one only a bit more illuminating than the last.

Given that former ESPN President John Skipper told Dan Le Batard and Friends it was a "logical sequence of events" to assume that ESPN was smack-dab in the middle of the Texas/OU move to the SEC, I'm fairly certain Bowlsby could back up his claims, if not in a court of law, certainly in the court of public opinion.

But can he win on a football field?

If his endgame here is to play to the masses, well, he could probably get elected king of college football, at least everywhere but the Deep South. College football fans in general are disillusioned with ESPN, mostly for its perceived SEC favoritism. You could argue the validity of those claims, but it compromises your case when you allegedly incentivize a league to kneecap a rival.

Ben Koo, owner and editor of @AwfulAnnouncing, has been tracking fan resentment of ESPN for years. In 2019, he wrote that it could even inform Fox's strategy as it tries to grab a bigger piece of the college pie.

With Fox's influence in college football snowballing, ESPN for the first time must deal with the reality that their tight grip over college football has loosened to the point where Fox has a viable, albeit outside, shot of overtaking them (particularly in some specific areas) in the next decade. I'm not sold such a changing of the guard is realistic or would be good for the sport, but this has been one of the hardest-fought fronts in ESPN's history. And it seems like we're early on in an escalating turf war for America's most tribal sports fans.

Given Koo's two-year old take, I asked him Thursday if he thought Fox might be ready to move from semi-partner to full-blown media rep of the Big 12 once ESPN is out, and if that assurance might have emboldened Bowlsby.

"My thinking is that Bowlsby doesn't have anything in his back pocket," Koo said. "I think if Fox was really smitten with the Big 12, they would have pushed the league to expand or would have kept the conference championship game, which they moved on from. I don't think they have anything really set up, so they're just really trying to have this play out as much as possible, hoping for a better outcome rather than letting ESPN have its way.

"I think it's the right call and maybe the only card to play here."

No, it doesn't seem like Fox would have much interest in a Big 12 minus Texas and OU. But what's a "better outcome" for the Big 12 at this point? Force Texas and OU to stick it out for four more seasons? Let them go but hang together, allowing the leftovers to keep the defectors' grant of right money? Add a couple of schools to enhance dwindling prospects for long-term viability?

Hard to plan a future with such uncertain financial stability. Without Texas and OU, the Big 12 is a mirror image of the AAC. Maybe not even that attractive. Maybe Baylor, TCU, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State and Kansas would reach the same conclusion. They could join a league that not only has a contract with ESPN through 2031, it might pay a premium for 16 teams.

Not even a premium would pay former Big 12 members as much as they've made and are entitled to through the '24 football season. But once that deal's up, who's paying them next?

Not ESPN, that's for sure.

Maybe Bowlsby ratted everybody out so fans would know the good guys from the bad. Mike Aresco, the AAC commissioner, gets a bad rep if he was doing ESPN's bidding. Then again, it's not as if the Big 12 isn't above poaching a few AAC members.

The moral is, there's no honor among thieves or commissioners. Greg Sankey, the SEC boss, worked alongside Bowlsby on a four-person committee that studied and recommended a 12-team playoff, hoping to get it implemented before the College Football Playoff contract is up in 2025. All the while, Sankey was picking Bowlsby's pocket. Not only did Bowlsby go public with his outrage, so did the Pac-12s new commissioner. George Kliavkoff told The Athletic that, in effect, Sankey's duplicity makes the advent of expanded playoffs before 2025 a non-starter.

Think of it like this: The selling point was to open the playoffs to more leagues, and now everyone knows that Sankey was improving his odds on the sly and trying to get it approved before anyone found out.

In case you were still wondering, there's no such thing as collegiality in college athletics. Maybe there never really was. Officials made certain of it, though, when they sold out to TV. Swim with sharks long enough, you're bound to end up dinner.

Over/under on when Texas/OU start in the SEC? My money is on 2023. That's two potentially rancorous years on courts and fields in the Large Dozen.

— Dennis Dodd (@dennisdoddcbs) July 29, 2021