ESPN+ to carry games in the fall
ARLINGTON — Back in April, the Big 12 struck a deal with ESPN that would allow the sprawling media company to create a digital platform onr ESPN+, its subscription streaming service.
Commissioner Bob Bowlsby on Monday revealed that agreement has yielded a digital network called “Big 12 Now” and it is set to debut this fall.
“Obviously, cable is not going to go away,” Bowlsby said Monday during Big 12 Media Days at AT&T Stadium. “It's going to continue to be a huge part of our strategy, but we are on the right side of technology. We have the right partners, and the future on this is very exciting.”
This year, the new service will feature content from Baylor, Kansas, Kansas State and Oklahoma State. TCU, Texas Tech, Iowa State and West Virginia will be added next year once their current TV deals expire.
Texas, which has a 20year contract with ESPN’s Longhorn Network, and Oklahoma, which has a contract with Fox through 2022, will retain their thirdtier rights deals, but Big 12 games in which those schools are the road team could be broadcast on ESPN+.
“We just think it was the right time to do it, and frankly, part of it is alignment as we go forward,” Bowlsby said. “We will have eight of our schools aligned. OU has a contract with Fox that goes another four years, then the Longhorn Network is a little further out (2031). So part of the process is aligning and putting ourselves in position for the future environment.”
Interested fans can access the exclusive content by signing up for a basic ESPN+ subscription, which runs $4.99 per month or $49.99 annually.
“I couldn’t be more enthusiastic,” Bowlsby said. “And to tell you the truth, it’s one of the things that I spent a lot of time on, and it’s one of the things that I enjoy most because it is so fascinating and it is changing so rapidly.”
Tech’s Bowman next Mahomes?
A few sets of eyebrows shot up, incredulous, when Texas Tech cornerback Douglas Coleman III mentioned former Red Raiders quarterback and 2018 NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes and sophomore signal-caller Alan Bowman in the same breath.
“He gives us glimpses of Pat sometimes (in practice),” Coleman said Monday. “He’s very accurate, pinpoint. And I mean, y’all saw the game where he threw for the most yards ever in Tech history, beating Pat’s record.”
It might be a little early to crown Bowman, but the Grapevine native did post some mind-boggling numbers last season even as a partially collapsed lung limited him to eight games.
In just the third game of his career, Bowman broke Mahomes’ Big 12 record for passing yards by a freshman, completing 43 of 59 passes for 605 yards with five touchdowns in a 63-49 win over Houston.
On the season, Bowman completed 69.4 percent of his passes, finishing with 2,638 yards and 17 touchdowns. And new coach Matt Wells said his quarterback is fully healthy heading into the start of fall practice.
“I’m looking forward to coaching Alan these next three years,” Wells said. “He's a football junkie. He’s passionate about what he does. I respect his grind. He’s got a great attitude — first player I met there about the minute we touched down in Lubbock and was wanting to watch cut-ups of Utah State and what we were going to do on offense.”
Realignment no longer issue
Realignment talk has cooled in recent years after a spate of conference jumping. Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby was asked about it anyway on Monday.
As of now, he said, there is no real urgency for the Big 12 to expand, contract or reshuffle.
“We have had no expansion discussion at any level,” Bowlsby said. “We like the 10 we have. We think the full round robin is the right way to conduct competition and, in the case of our basketball, full double round robin.
“We are distributing record revenues, and we have heretofore unanticipated media opportunities. And I don’t expect that to be an active topic on anybody’s agenda within the conference any time in the foreseeable future.”