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ESPN delivers strong response to Big 12 cease-and-desist letter

By Zac Wassink | Last updated 7/29/21

Following stories about how influential ESPN may or may not have been regarding Texas and Oklahoma likely defecting from the Big 12 to the SEC, the Big 12 sent a cease-and-desist letter to the Worldwide Leader demanding that it end “all actions that may harm the conference and its members and that it not communicate with the Big 12 Conference’s existing members or any NCAA conference regarding the Big 12 conference’s members, possible conference realignment or potential financial incentive or outcomes related to possible conference realignment."

On Thursday, ESPN's Front Row Staff shared a response delivered to Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby:

Espn to the #Big12 pic.twitter.com/jUycNTnvbc
— Zac Wassink (@ZacWassink) July 29, 2021

As noted by The Associated Press (h/t ESPN), Texas and Oklahoma submitted a request to the SEC to become members in 2025 after their agreements with the Big 12 end. Switching conferences beforehand could cost the universities "tens of millions of dollars" that could either be covered via new media-rights deals or eliminated if the Big 12 folds because other members also abandon it over the next few years.

Analysts and observers seem to agree that money will talk as it pertains to Texas and Oklahoma making their moves, and also that college superconferences are inevitable in a world driven by revenue earned through media agreements.

Neither Bowlsby nor anybody else can change where college sports are headed through strongly-worded letters.

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