The Big 12 Conference began their new extension for its media rights deal with ESPN and FOX in July on a six-year contract worth $2.28 billion. This new extension will increase each school’s annual revenue from $22 million on their last deal to approximately $31.7 million per year.
Both ESPN and FOX plan to sublicense Big 12 games to TNT in both football and basketball starting in the 2025-26 season.
TNT lost its media rights for the NBA after ESPN/ABC, NBC, and Amazon swooped in and struck a deal with the NBA on an 11-year, $76 billion contract, which makes expanding to cover college football that much more important for them.
TNT will not only cover select Big 12 games but will also continue its College Football Playoff coverage. In 2024, the network broadcasted first-round matchups between No. 11 SMU and No. 6 Penn State, as well as No. 12 Clemson and No. 5 Texas. Looking ahead, TNT is set to host two more first-round games in 2025, followed by two quarterfinal matchups each season from 2026 to 2028, and one semifinal game per season during that same stretch.
With the Big 12 expanding to 16 teams following the departures of Texas and Oklahoma, the conference has added Arizona State, Arizona, Colorado, and Utah from the Pac-12; Cincinnati, UCF, and Houston from the AAC; and BYU, who was previously an independent. This rapid growth over the past few years has not only given the Big 12 a chance to reinvent itself after losing two of its top revenue-generating schools, but it has also provided TNT with significantly more opportunities for broadcasts and media coverage than it would have had if a deal like this had been struck just three years ago.
With the continual growth and parity of today’s college football, this seemed like the perfect time for TNT to jump in on the action.