Texas and Oklahoma took the first formal step toward moving to the Southeastern Conference on Monday morning, notifying the Big 12 conference that they would not be renewing an agreement than binds the league’s members through 2025.
The schools sent out a joint statement that made no mention of the SEC and said “the universities intend to honor their exiting grant of rights agreements.”
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The “grant of rights” gives the conference control of the school’s media rights and runs concurrent with the Big 12′s television contracts with ESPN and Fox.
Revenue from the Big 12's TV deals make up the bulk of the $34.5 million the league distributed to its members this year.
Texas and Oklahoma have been in discussions with the SEC about joining the league, though neither school nor the powerhouse conference has acknowledged that publicly.
Reports indicated the two schools have been in discussions with the SEC for months. There have been varying reports on whether Texas A&M was part of those discussion or aware of Texas’s plans.
Texas A&M is the only current SEC school that has publicly spoken out against allowing Texas into the conference. The Aggies moved to the SEC from the Big 12 in 2012.
The Texas A&M System Board of Regents is expected to meet Monday evening regarding what they are calling “SEC issues.”
After executive session, the Board will convene in open session for discussion and possible action on contractual and governance issues relating to Texas A&M University and the Southeastern Conference.