Greg Sankey reveals how Texas, Oklahoma move to the SEC was expedited

The SEC got a jolt on Thursday night when news broke that Texas and Oklahoma would officially be joining the conference early in 2024. The league had set up for the Longhorns and Sooners to join for a year now. Still, with several motions attempting to move the entry up passed, it is officially set for July 1st, 2024.

Now, with that move in place, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey joined ‘McElroy and Cubelic In the Morning’ to discuss all the ins and outs of the decision. To start, he said this was all able to happen because of the Big 12’s ‘willingness and ability’ to allow it to happen earlier, which hadn’t always been the case.

“This has always been consistent in the observation about the existing relationships between the Big 12 Conference and its members. And our invitation, effective on July 1st, 2025? (It) was predicated on their agreements and the expiration on June 30th of those agreements,” Sankey said. “Their willingness, ability, and interest to adjust the departure date? It’s what was central to us having the opportunity to move this forward sooner rather than later.”

As we all know, the media rights contracts were always the biggest hurdle to accomplishing this sooner. Expansion feels like the natural next step in college athletics when it comes to the leagues. However, deals that have schools and programs locked in have slowed that process down.

It had actually caused Sankey to grow tired of answering the questions about it. Still, he made it clear that the SEC was never going to violate any rights contract of the Big 12 just to get their newest members in any earlier.

“Essentially, you just have to track back on the conversation we had at the time of the announced entry of Texas and Oklahoma. So we’re back to late July 2021,” Sankey said. “Immediately, I started having to answer questions (because) nobody’s ever announced a membership transition and then waited four years. And I had to explain, repeatedly and frequently, the reason we were on that timeframe is because of the grant of rights agreement that exists. And all these other expansions and membership movements? You didn’t have an immediate grant of rights. So a contract where a university and its athletics program convey the rights for a certain period of time.”

“We knew we had to honor those existing agreements,” added Sankey. “We are not going to interfere with those. That was really the first key. And it’s all about those contracts between the Big 12 and its members. So our preparation was to add and expand after those contracts expire.”

Thanks to the Big 12, the SEC finally found a way to get its newest members a year earlier. With all parties now content, they can all prepare for their respective subtractions or additions much sooner than anyone originally anticipated.