The new Big East -- formerly dubbed the Catholic 7 -- next season will "join [the] Fox Sports 1 college roster" in a deal worth an estimated $500M over 12 years, according to Richard Sandomir of the N.Y. TIMES. Sources said that the contract "could spike" to $600M if the conference "grows to a dozen teams." Fox Sports execs last week "laid out many of the network's plans," but they did "not discuss a deal with the Catholic 7 ... which is expected to be announced in a week or so." Meanwhile, ESPN will be paying the old Big East -- speculatively called the America 12 -- about $20M annually to "carry a conference featuring Connecticut, Cincinnati, Temple and South Florida -- which are not leaving, for now -- in addition to Navy (in football only) and a group of new, mostly Southern universities." Fox "chased the basketball-only conference for several reasons." The net has Pac-12 and Big 12 inventory and "doesn't need football." Basketball "adds volume to Fox Sports 1" as it plans to make its debut Aug. 17, and the Catholic 7 brings Fox "history and rivalries" (N.Y. TIMES, 3/12).
