Commentary

Moving right along

Jay Bilas crunches the numbers to tell us who will gain from conference moves

Updated: November 2, 2011, 5:09 PM ET
By Jay Bilas | ESPN The Magazine

This story appears in the Nov. 14 issue of ESPN The Magazine.

Wait a minute -- who's going to which conference again and why? To make sense of what's happened and what could still go down, we turned to ESPN basketball analyst Jay Bilas for guidance and speculation, then crunched some numbers to see where the money trail leads.

KEY:
• 2009-10 profits
• Current TV revenue
• Future TV revenue

What Happened: Texas A&M to the SEC.
Why It Works: The SEC gains access to the Texas market, and A&M reaps about $2 million more per year in TV rights while removing UT's boot from its neck. The Aggies' switch also eliminates a Big 12 marketing and recruiting redundancy: A&M can pitch to in-state prospects the promise of playing in the SEC, however long the title-shot odds.
Athletic Department profits, 2010: $6.8M
Big 12 TV revenue: $15M/year
SEC TV revenue: $17.1M/year*

To see which school will gain the most from a big conference move, become an ESPN Insider today!

Jay Bilas

College Basketball analyst
  • College basketball analyst for ESPN and ESPN Insider
  • Played and coached at Duke
  • Practicing attorney

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