Photo by: Liz Parke
Day One Big 12 Media Day Notebook
July 15, 2019 05:08 PM | Football
ARLINGTON, Texas – The Big 12's new digital network now has a name – Big 12 Now on ESPN+. Veteran Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby spoke a little bit about the new digital network debuting this fall for $4.99 per month or $49.99 annually on all of the popular streaming services.
"Big 12 Now will be combined with our first-tier inventory which is on Fox and ESPN," he said before the start of this year's Big 12 Media Days at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
The new streaming service will be available on Apple TV, Android devices, Roku, ChromeCast, FireTV, Xbox, PlayStation 4, Oculus Go and all new Samsung televisions.
"Whether it's your mobile device, your iPad, your Android or some manner of consumption you have with your home 80-inch TV, this is going to be omnipresent," Bowlsby said. "It's available 24/7, 365 worldwide."
The commissioner indicated that the new streaming service won't diminish the league's relationships with ESPN and Fox for its tier-one content. It is being developed to enhance the conference's other sports content that has been previously streamed by the individual schools.
Big 12 Now is not replacing the Longhorn Network or Oklahoma's partnership with Fox Sports, but it will bundle the conference's other content in a way that will work around those prior relationships.
Big 12 Now will carry expanded content from Baylor, Kansas, Kansas State and Oklahoma State the first year and Iowa State, TCU, Texas Tech and West Virginia will join the following year when their existing tier-three deals expire.
Texas and Oklahoma will also be on Big 12 Now, although how much is unknown.
"There is a Big 12 landing page that is menu-driven, very easy to use and when it's fully functional and operational, ESPN+ and Big 12 Now on ESPN+ will be carrying over 800 Big 12 events," Bowlsby said. "Fox will continue to have some selection opportunities on some of our Olympic sports and some of our women's basketball games, but as I say, 24/7, 365 worldwide."
The commissioner admitted there will likely be some growing pains once the new digital network becomes operational, but not nearly the issues the Big Ten Network encountered when he was Iowa's athletic director.
"Unlike my early days with the Big Ten Network and my early days with the Pac 12 Network, the first year of the Big Ten Network you couldn't get Ohio State football in Central Ohio, and believe me there were a few angry people when they called and said 'we can't get this and you need to fix our problem' and the answer was 'we can't fix your problem,'" he recalled. "You need to talk to your cable carrier. This technology is up and running. It's easy to subscribe to and it's cutting edge."
Streaming services have now become a part of our every day lives, but Bowlsby maintains cable television will also continue to be a big part of our sports viewing experience as well.
"We are on the right side of technology," he said. "We have the right partners, and the future on this is very exciting. I couldn't be more enthusiastic and to tell you the truth, it's one of the things that I spent a lot of time on and it's one of the things that I enjoy most because it is so fascinating and it is changing so rapidly."
Day One Media Day Notes …
* Bowlsby mentioned the great success the Big 12 enjoyed in 2018-19 with national championships in women's basketball (Baylor), women's gymnastics (Oklahoma), men's tennis (Texas) and men's outdoor track (Texas Tech), Oklahoma football reaching the College Football Playoff once again and Texas Tech reaching the NCAA men's basketball finals.
He also noted the record attendance at last year's Phillips 66 Big 12 Football Championship Game at AT&T Stadium when more than 83,000 showed up to watch Oklahoma defeat Texas.
"In addition to setting the record for attendance at a conference championship game, our basketball tournament was the best attended in our history and also among all of the major conferences last year," the commissioner noted.
* Revenue distributions for 2019 were also robust, according to Bowlsby. "Financially we had a great year. We distributed $38.8 million, a six percent increase from previous years. When you include the member participation subsidy, which I think most of you are aware varies from institution to institution - they vary from $1.1 million this last year to almost $4 million - the distributions for some of our schools are clearly over $40 million, and that's plus their third tier-activity. So as you know that range is from about a million dollars a school to something between 15 to 20 million dollars at the University of Texas.
"Of that money we took in, we distributed about 93%," he added. "We took about seven percent for conference overhead to run our championships and do the things we do. A big chunk of that was legal fees, but we are an efficient organization. I think 93% is the highest percentage of distribution in all of college athletics so we feel good about that. Our distribution has gone up 55% in the last five years, so we continue on the right kind of trend."
* Bowlsby mentioned the outstanding work WVU's Shane Lyons is now doing as chair of College Football's Oversight Committee. This year, Lyons replaced Bowlsby on the committee.
"This year they have done things to make football a safer game," he said. "They have taken out the tandem blocks on the kickoffs, changed the way that blindside hits are being done. As great of a game as it is and the regular season during October and November we need to be constantly vigilant that we're making it a safer game so young people don't have to compromise the way they live the rest of their lives as a result of participating in a sport."
Another issue the College Football Oversight Committee is closely monitoring is the new transfer rules that have created the now infamous "transfer portal."
"We recently got a report from Shane Lyons saying that the number of transfers on an institution-by-institution basis are really about the same as they have been over the last few years," Bowlsby said. "Interestingly enough there are kids going to the portal and leaving with a scholarship and finding difficulty in getting another scholarship at another institution."
* The conference boss dropped an interesting stat in response to the national narrative that the Big 12 is solely an offensive-minded football conference. "Last year of our seven bowl games, six of the seven were held below their season averages offensively by Big 12 defenses," he said. "Contrary to popular belief there are kids that tackle in the Big 12."
Bowlsby also mentioned the Big 12 has attracted three of the best young football coaches in America, one of them being West Virginia's Neal Brown, as well veteran coach Les Miles, who is making his second run in the conference after a highly successful tenure at LSU.
"If you're coming into this league as four new people are this year, it's a daunting task to try and find wins," he said. "These four new coaches are all excellent, veteran, seasoned coaches, but not surprisingly their teams are picked seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th in our league this year.
"Les Miles and Chris Klieman have won national championships. Both are extraordinarily talented veteran head coaches. Matt Wells at Texas Tech has honed his craft and has great teams at Utah State and is a great asset to Texas Tech. Neal Brown is one of the coaches that I've been keeping an eye on. He is an outstanding young coach. I don't envy the task they have. They all have to come in and build programs."
* Miles began this year's media day by addressing the status of his best player, running back Pooka Williams Jr. Williams will serve a one-game suspension for domestic battery charge stemming from an incident last December. He will sit out the Jayhawks' season opener against Indiana State on Aug. 31.
"We felt like a strong point was made not only with Pooka Williams Jr. but with the team," Miles said. "For seven and a half months Pooka was going through a process and he didn't have the opportunity to spend time with his team, go to the weight room, you know, just be a part.
"He has taken responsibility. He's been remorseful. He's learned from this experience as has our team. We're thankful to have him back, and, again, no violence against a woman is okay. I did not make this decision, but I stand by it and see it as a right one."
Williams was one of the Big 12's most dynamic young players last year, rushing for 1,125 yards to earn Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year honors.
* TCU's Gary Patterson, one of the Big 12's elder statesmen along with Oklahoma State's Mike Gundy, was asked if he believes the conference is beginning to shift its philosophy with the new coaches coming on board this fall.
"I think the league has been changing a little bit anyway," he said. "I think you're starting to see people get bigger, a lot more tight ends, probably Kansas State does that. I hear rumors that Les [Miles] is getting back to tight ends, fullbacks, stuff he did, but we prepare for all that stuff anyway.
"Here is the thing," he continued, "over the years you catalog how everybody plays each other, so I start looking at certain ball games because certain people play other people better than what other people do because you see 'em year after year after year.
"So, when you have a new person coming in you don't have to invent something new game plan-wise because you haven't played them yet. This, in some ways, makes it easier, but in all the teams that have somebody coming in new, Kansas kept coach Bowen. Matt Wells was on the team when I coached at Utah State. Coach Brown was at Texas Tech and we played against him when I started in the league back in 2012.
"Vic Koenning and I played together at Kansas State, and he I have talked over the years. You only have 130 teams so as far as watching people, you know, sometimes people tweak, but we watched all you can watch to see what's going to go on and how people do things. (We're) trying to do the best we can to make sure we're prepared."
"Big 12 Now will be combined with our first-tier inventory which is on Fox and ESPN," he said before the start of this year's Big 12 Media Days at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
The new streaming service will be available on Apple TV, Android devices, Roku, ChromeCast, FireTV, Xbox, PlayStation 4, Oculus Go and all new Samsung televisions.
"Whether it's your mobile device, your iPad, your Android or some manner of consumption you have with your home 80-inch TV, this is going to be omnipresent," Bowlsby said. "It's available 24/7, 365 worldwide."
The commissioner indicated that the new streaming service won't diminish the league's relationships with ESPN and Fox for its tier-one content. It is being developed to enhance the conference's other sports content that has been previously streamed by the individual schools.
Big 12 Now is not replacing the Longhorn Network or Oklahoma's partnership with Fox Sports, but it will bundle the conference's other content in a way that will work around those prior relationships.
Big 12 Now will carry expanded content from Baylor, Kansas, Kansas State and Oklahoma State the first year and Iowa State, TCU, Texas Tech and West Virginia will join the following year when their existing tier-three deals expire.
Texas and Oklahoma will also be on Big 12 Now, although how much is unknown.
"There is a Big 12 landing page that is menu-driven, very easy to use and when it's fully functional and operational, ESPN+ and Big 12 Now on ESPN+ will be carrying over 800 Big 12 events," Bowlsby said. "Fox will continue to have some selection opportunities on some of our Olympic sports and some of our women's basketball games, but as I say, 24/7, 365 worldwide."
The commissioner admitted there will likely be some growing pains once the new digital network becomes operational, but not nearly the issues the Big Ten Network encountered when he was Iowa's athletic director.
"Unlike my early days with the Big Ten Network and my early days with the Pac 12 Network, the first year of the Big Ten Network you couldn't get Ohio State football in Central Ohio, and believe me there were a few angry people when they called and said 'we can't get this and you need to fix our problem' and the answer was 'we can't fix your problem,'" he recalled. "You need to talk to your cable carrier. This technology is up and running. It's easy to subscribe to and it's cutting edge."
Streaming services have now become a part of our every day lives, but Bowlsby maintains cable television will also continue to be a big part of our sports viewing experience as well.
"We are on the right side of technology," he said. "We have the right partners, and the future on this is very exciting. I couldn't be more enthusiastic and to tell you the truth, it's one of the things that I spent a lot of time on and it's one of the things that I enjoy most because it is so fascinating and it is changing so rapidly."
Day One Media Day Notes …
* Bowlsby mentioned the great success the Big 12 enjoyed in 2018-19 with national championships in women's basketball (Baylor), women's gymnastics (Oklahoma), men's tennis (Texas) and men's outdoor track (Texas Tech), Oklahoma football reaching the College Football Playoff once again and Texas Tech reaching the NCAA men's basketball finals.
He also noted the record attendance at last year's Phillips 66 Big 12 Football Championship Game at AT&T Stadium when more than 83,000 showed up to watch Oklahoma defeat Texas.
"In addition to setting the record for attendance at a conference championship game, our basketball tournament was the best attended in our history and also among all of the major conferences last year," the commissioner noted.
* Revenue distributions for 2019 were also robust, according to Bowlsby. "Financially we had a great year. We distributed $38.8 million, a six percent increase from previous years. When you include the member participation subsidy, which I think most of you are aware varies from institution to institution - they vary from $1.1 million this last year to almost $4 million - the distributions for some of our schools are clearly over $40 million, and that's plus their third tier-activity. So as you know that range is from about a million dollars a school to something between 15 to 20 million dollars at the University of Texas.
"Of that money we took in, we distributed about 93%," he added. "We took about seven percent for conference overhead to run our championships and do the things we do. A big chunk of that was legal fees, but we are an efficient organization. I think 93% is the highest percentage of distribution in all of college athletics so we feel good about that. Our distribution has gone up 55% in the last five years, so we continue on the right kind of trend."
* Bowlsby mentioned the outstanding work WVU's Shane Lyons is now doing as chair of College Football's Oversight Committee. This year, Lyons replaced Bowlsby on the committee.
"This year they have done things to make football a safer game," he said. "They have taken out the tandem blocks on the kickoffs, changed the way that blindside hits are being done. As great of a game as it is and the regular season during October and November we need to be constantly vigilant that we're making it a safer game so young people don't have to compromise the way they live the rest of their lives as a result of participating in a sport."
Another issue the College Football Oversight Committee is closely monitoring is the new transfer rules that have created the now infamous "transfer portal."
"We recently got a report from Shane Lyons saying that the number of transfers on an institution-by-institution basis are really about the same as they have been over the last few years," Bowlsby said. "Interestingly enough there are kids going to the portal and leaving with a scholarship and finding difficulty in getting another scholarship at another institution."
* The conference boss dropped an interesting stat in response to the national narrative that the Big 12 is solely an offensive-minded football conference. "Last year of our seven bowl games, six of the seven were held below their season averages offensively by Big 12 defenses," he said. "Contrary to popular belief there are kids that tackle in the Big 12."
Bowlsby also mentioned the Big 12 has attracted three of the best young football coaches in America, one of them being West Virginia's Neal Brown, as well veteran coach Les Miles, who is making his second run in the conference after a highly successful tenure at LSU.
"If you're coming into this league as four new people are this year, it's a daunting task to try and find wins," he said. "These four new coaches are all excellent, veteran, seasoned coaches, but not surprisingly their teams are picked seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th in our league this year.
"Les Miles and Chris Klieman have won national championships. Both are extraordinarily talented veteran head coaches. Matt Wells at Texas Tech has honed his craft and has great teams at Utah State and is a great asset to Texas Tech. Neal Brown is one of the coaches that I've been keeping an eye on. He is an outstanding young coach. I don't envy the task they have. They all have to come in and build programs."
* Miles began this year's media day by addressing the status of his best player, running back Pooka Williams Jr. Williams will serve a one-game suspension for domestic battery charge stemming from an incident last December. He will sit out the Jayhawks' season opener against Indiana State on Aug. 31."We felt like a strong point was made not only with Pooka Williams Jr. but with the team," Miles said. "For seven and a half months Pooka was going through a process and he didn't have the opportunity to spend time with his team, go to the weight room, you know, just be a part.
"He has taken responsibility. He's been remorseful. He's learned from this experience as has our team. We're thankful to have him back, and, again, no violence against a woman is okay. I did not make this decision, but I stand by it and see it as a right one."
Williams was one of the Big 12's most dynamic young players last year, rushing for 1,125 yards to earn Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year honors.
* TCU's Gary Patterson, one of the Big 12's elder statesmen along with Oklahoma State's Mike Gundy, was asked if he believes the conference is beginning to shift its philosophy with the new coaches coming on board this fall.
"I think the league has been changing a little bit anyway," he said. "I think you're starting to see people get bigger, a lot more tight ends, probably Kansas State does that. I hear rumors that Les [Miles] is getting back to tight ends, fullbacks, stuff he did, but we prepare for all that stuff anyway.
"Here is the thing," he continued, "over the years you catalog how everybody plays each other, so I start looking at certain ball games because certain people play other people better than what other people do because you see 'em year after year after year.
"So, when you have a new person coming in you don't have to invent something new game plan-wise because you haven't played them yet. This, in some ways, makes it easier, but in all the teams that have somebody coming in new, Kansas kept coach Bowen. Matt Wells was on the team when I coached at Utah State. Coach Brown was at Texas Tech and we played against him when I started in the league back in 2012.
"Vic Koenning and I played together at Kansas State, and he I have talked over the years. You only have 130 teams so as far as watching people, you know, sometimes people tweak, but we watched all you can watch to see what's going to go on and how people do things. (We're) trying to do the best we can to make sure we're prepared."
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