There's buzz on X right now citing "a source close to the situation". Apparently the BIG 10 and others view BYU athletics as the model for making money in the new era of college sports.
In just its second year in the Big 12, BYU generated over $153 million in athletic revenue despite still receiving only a partial conference revenue share. That's one of the strongest growth stories in college athletics.
For more than a decade, BYU operated as a football independent with ESPN as its media partner. That unique relationship consistently put the Cougars on ABC, ESPN, and ESPN2, giving them national exposure that very few non-power programs have ever enjoyed.
When BYU joined the Big 12, it traded some of that independence for long-term stability, Power Four membership, and conference media revenue. Instead of shrinking the brand, the move seems to have accelerated its growth.
The Big 10 and other conferences are particularly interested in the buying power of the BYU fan base.
BYU has one of the largest, most loyal, and most geographically dispersed fan bases in college sports. In addition to watching games, that community hires people, starts businesses around the brand, invests, travels to games (or shows up to games when the team travels due to Church membership), and spends money year-round. That's a much different kind of asset than simply having strong television audiences or lots of alumni.
When you combine a national audience with that level of economic engagement, you get something that goes beyond media rights and ticket sales. You get a commercial ecosystem that very few athletic programs can match.
I think BYU is positioned extremely well over the next several years. The ESPN years built national reach, and the Big 12 provides the financial platform to capitalize on it. The fan base is what gives the brand staying power.
Not sure if the discourse on X is entirely accurate, but it raises interesting questions:
- Which college football brands do you think are better positioned than BYU over the next 10 years?
- What's the biggest factor that could keep BYU from becoming one of the premier brands in college athletics over the next decade?