GOR Question

[44PRIDE]

So by signing away their television rights, the GOR basically prevents teams from moving from one conference to another.

Lets say (for the sake of argument) that Oklahoma wants to jump to the B1G. They signed up for a 10 year GOR agreement with the conference. If they leave early, OK would legally forefit their TV revenue for the life of the B12 GOR. I get that...

But lets say they decide to leave for the B1G in year 8 and choose to forefit years 9 & 10. Would/could the B1G suppliment their income for those last two years? I mean, as long as OK forefits their portion of the B12 GOR, they could have another conference suppliment their income...right?

 

[javadoc]

So by signing away their television rights, the GOR basically prevents teams from moving from one conference to another.

Lets say (for the sake of argument) that Oklahoma wants to jump to the B1G. They signed up for a 10 year GOR agreement with the conference. If they leave early, OK would legally forefit their TV revenue for the life of the B12 GOR. I get that...

But lets say they decide to leave for the B1G in year 8 and choose to forefit years 9 & 10. Would/could the B1G suppliment their income for those last two years? I mean, as long as OK forefits their portion of the B12 GOR, they could have another conference suppliment their income...right?

A more interesting question to me is who gets to broadcast the games? Are the "rights" granted solely the proceeds from media broadcasts? Or would Oklahoma - Iowa be the "Big 12 game of the week" subject to the B12's control?

 

[Chip]

A more interesting question to me is who gets to broadcast the games? Are the "rights" granted solely the proceeds from media broadcasts? Or would Oklahoma - Iowa be the "Big 12 game of the week" subject to the B12's control?

Both of these are good questions. But I would assume to answer 44's question, the schools will always do the math/business exercise to make a decision in their best financial interest.

To java's point, I think it would just be the leverage for the conference that's losing them to settle up. It would basically amount to an exit fee. They aren't going to want to broadcast games of a team no longer in their conference, even if they could.

The GoR is a nice idea for stability, I really hope it works out. But I think at some point, some school with pockets big enough to cover the legal expenses, is going to test how it holds up in court.

The biggest stability is probably that most schools don't even want to deal with this. If the money is good enough at this point, which it sounds like it is, then just time to move on and end some of this madness.

 

[Alsacs]

Just an FYI the B1G current media deals run thru 2016 season and the Big XII GOR expire after the 2017 season. If Oklahoma and whomever else wanted to go to the B1G all they would have do is wait 1 season and OU and whomever would be available. If the B1G had conservations with those and negotiated a short term 1 year extension before they added more schools that could easily be done.

I said last night I think the SEC/B1G are going to divide the Big XII 4 top valuable teams Texas/Oklahoma/Oklahoma State/Kansas, but I have no evidence or idea which 2 would go which way.

 

[HtownOrange]

The GOR is no better than the teams that signed it intend it to be when tested, as Chip said, a starting point to negotiate an exit fee.

The B1G GOR is useless in that all the teams that signed are not leaving. Yes, PSU flirted with the ACC, but if the money projections weren't there, they were not leaving, more likely posturing for eastern partners. Regardless, PSU would want their rights to travel with them and a fee could be negotiated.

The ACC GOR is similar in that, no one really wants to leave, FSU fand have no say in what FSU really wants.

In the Big 12, the GOR is a means of holding the conference together than for the benefit of a third party, like the BTN or ACCN. If OU wants out, they will sue and claim hardship, breach, freedom of commerce and anything else that will get them in court. This would force a response and lead to a negotiated settlement. In all likelihood, UT and possibly other schools would move near simultaneously so as to force a better negotiated settlement. The Big 12 TV deal without UT and/or OU is crap and not likely to be around long, adding to OU's leverage.

As indicated by a previous poster, even if the Big 12 wins and retains rights to OU home games, the conference will be stuck showing OU games as they are selected by the broadcaster, not the conference. Also, they would be advertising the gaining conference during the OU game, not exactly what the Big 12 wants.

Essentially, the GOR is just a fancy name for a starting point for an exit fee.

 

[Jake]

The legality and details of the grant of rights is no longer important. In fact, I'm not convinced its as binding as has been suggested. The important part is that everyone has one, so there won't be challenges to it.

 

[44PRIDE]

Just an FYI the B1G current media deals run thru 2016 season and the Big XII GOR expire after the 2017 season. If Oklahoma and whomever else wanted to go to the B1G all they would have do is wait 1 season and OU and whomever would be available. If the B1G had conservations with those and negotiated a short term 1 year extension before they added more schools that could easily be done.

I said last night I think the SEC/B1G are going to divide the Big XII 4 top valuable teams Texas/Oklahoma/Oklahoma State/Kansas, but I have no evidence or idea which 2 would go which way.

The B12 GOR goes through the 2024/25 seasons. The true litmus test will be whether the anchor B12 schools decide to renew the deal early or not.

If they renew by 2022, realignment is over. If they don't renew early, I think all bets are off...the B12 gets picked apart, and we get 4x16 conferences. The leftovers join the AAC as a tier 2 conference.

 

[Alsacs]

The B12 GOR goes through the 2024/25 seasons. The true litmus test will be whether the anchor B12 schools decide to renew the deal early or not.

If they renew by 2022, realignment is over. If they don't renew early, I think all bets are off...the B12 gets picked apart, and we get 4x16 conferences. The leftovers join the AAC as a tier 2 conference.

I guess I am wrong then. I don't think we will anybody challenge a GOR as the B1G could become poachable for the "right" price in that scenario and nobody will want to challenge that hassle.

 

[chakka3421]

The legality and details of the grant of rights is no longer important. In fact, I'm not convinced its as binding as has been suggested. The important part is that everyone has one, so there won't be challenges to it.

Jake - I should "like" you more often. This! It's now become a Cold War equivalent of detente - if one conference sues another over GOR - it's the equivalent of nuclear mutual destruction, so the end game is nobody hits the launch button or GOR implodes for all.