Not every game. They could still very easily not be televised on occasion. But yes, more often than not, they will be on ABC/ESPN(1;2;U)/BTN.
I'm not certain how the allowances will change basketball scheduling. There may be a 'fourth tier' option which could allow for SOME local production, but I haven't heard one way or another.
The Big 12 has several huge obstacles in its broadcast path:
(1) TV sets. The population in Big 12 country is rather sparse, especially when stacked against the Big Ten.
(2) Exclusivity. This kills any chances of having multiple games on multiple networks at the same time, and doesn't allow for local (i.e. Mediacom) productions.
(3) Big money schools. The rich will get richer until a better revenue sharing program is introduced.
(4) Winning. If you don't win, you're not an appealing choice for 'neutral' viewers.
(5) Available windows. Everybody wants to be on ESPN so badly, there are conferences fighting over each other to play football on Tuesday and Wednesday night just so they can be on ESPN. That's just awful. The shifting of programming to BTN will open up some spots for the Big 12, but not a bunch.
The announced number of broadcasts for Big 12 football breaks down as follows:
ABC - 16 to 18 games, in a combination of afternoon and prime time
FSN - 22 to 24 games, including those sublicensed to ESPN (4-5)
VERSUS - 5 games
...and that doesn't include the nonconference road games which fall under opponent TV packages. Bottom line is, there are more Big 12 games on TV, but still not as many as the Big Ten, nor are they all on a single platform (ABC/ESPN family).
|