Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby said the conference has "forecast a significant increase in distribution to our members," according to Mitch Vingle of the CHARLESTON GAZETTE-MAIL. Bowlsby added, "The year is not over yet, but we anticipate our forecast is pretty close.” He said, “We’ll reveal the numbers at the end of May, but we expect a substantial increase from that of last year, which was $34.5 million per school.” Vingle noted the conference’s men’s basketball teams earned 19 units (figures paid out for participation in the NCAA Tournament), which should “end up being around” $32.2M. Bowlsby: “I haven’t done the math on the dollar amount because the proceeds are paid out on a rolling, six-year basis. What we gained this year rolls into what we get for the last five. The one thing that’s good is we had a year in which I think we had but eight units. That falls off and is replaced by 19. So we should have a net positive that’s very good.” Meanwhile, Bowlsby said the conference has “some important decisions coming up” in regards to its media rights. Bowlsby: “Our Tier 1 media contracts involving football and men’s basketball, particularly, come up in ’24-25. There are a number of opportunities for us between now and then that will require some negotiation and thinking about how we want to structure things.” He added, “Among the most interesting things to me is the changing landscape of the sports media environment. The world is consuming sports and news in ways that were unforeseen a few years ago. Anyone that tells you they know what will be happening in the world of media three or four years from now is delusional. It’s changing so fast it’s difficult to make such forecasts” (CHARLESTON GAZETTE-MAIL, 4/14).
