One thing they were hitting repeatedly in the show was that we shouldn't take FSU or Clemson if it causes the Big 12 payout to decrease. I think that's a given - I would hope that no one among the powers that be are considering that as an option. It is true that money doesn't appear from nowhere though. We know that ESPN and Fox are tapped out. I also don't think it's a good assumption that the streaming video crew would pay a higher rate vs the traditional media. They aren't idiots - they can see that ESPN and Fox can barely afford things as it is. They'll pay market price, or lower and let the traditional media bankrupt themselves. No need to spend big on a product that doesn't have an insanely massive market. That's what we've seen so far - get the MLS on the cheap because it's good value or pay up for the NFL because it's worth it.
My assumption (which I think any fan on the outside looking in should be assuming) is that this deal happens only if there is enough money in the deal for the B12 teams to stay even or increase their media payout. How does that happen? I don't know but I could think of a number of ways:
1) A new media partner buys rights and adds funding. That does get tricky is how that works - would ESPN transfer their $X they pay for the two schools from the ACC to the B12 with the new partner only making up the difference, or would the new partner need to pay the price of two "full shares" for the two teams to come to the B12
2) ESPN utilizes the FSU/Clem departure to renegotiate their ACC deal to an even lower rate, freeing up money to pay FSU/Clem on par with the B12 while the rest of the ACC takes a haircut. They could still come out money ahead doing this.
3) Corporate sponsors somehow fund the gap in pay for the remainder of this media deal to keep everyone even.
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