Memphis reportedly offered a $200 million offer to the Big 12 to enter the conference, according to Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger. According to the report, it’s currently not enough support at the moment.
“The proposal from Memphis — one of the most aggressive membership propositions in college athletics history — features hundreds of millions of dollars in sponsorship commitments to the Big 12 from UM-affiliated corporate partners, as well as the school eschewing revenue distribution from the league for at least five years,” Dellenger wrote. “This particular effort began more than a year ago. Memphis president Bill Hardgrave has spent at least 14 months visiting with the presidents and top athletic administrators of many Big 12 schools in individual, on-campus meetings that have culminated in a membership offer to the league that is expected to be as high as $200 million over the next five years.”
Memphis currently resides in the now-rebranded American Conference, formerly the AAC (American Athletic Conference). Now, the Tigers’ athletic department wants to make the move to the Power Four.
Big 12 officials are reportedly exploring the proposal made by Memphis but there is not league-wide support. Any expansion move needs the support of a super majority of the league’s presidents and chancellors, which is 12 of the 16 schools.
The Big 12 previously explored expansion proposals from Gonzaga and UConn, but neither gained the necessary support. There are still hurdles, as Dellenger reported, but Memphis’ offer is certainly more lucrative.
Interestingly, this isn’t exactly the first time Memphis was looked over as a potential addition for the Big 12. The conference recently added Cincinnati, UCF, Houston and BYU, all from the American Conference (then-AAC).
“We vetted Memphis when we added the other four (Cincinnati, UCF, Houston and BYU) and chose not to add them,” said one Big 12 administrator to Dellenger. “What’s changed now?”
As the report states, Memphis is the latest school to take a big swing for a Power Four conference in an unprecedented manner. SMU joined the ACC while agreeing to take no league revenue at first.
The American exit fee is reportedly $25 million at minimum for Memphis to exit the conference. Memphis officials reportedly expect to share the full $20.5 million in rev-share with the athletes next year and they’ve told that to the Big 12, perhaps making their offer more appealing.
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