Mike Gundy Comments on Longhorn Network, Potential Big 12 Network

A half-decade ago, the Big 12 nearly dissolved amid wide expansions of the SEC and the Pac-12. The branch that held the conference together was Texas, which parlayed its decision to stay into the Longhorn Network, a move the school hoped would be a revenue-generating behemoth.  

Five years after the network's launch, Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy thinks it's time for a new plan. Gundy told CBSSports.com's Dennis Dodd on Monday the Big 12 needs to create its own conference-run network—at the expensive of the Longhorns' setup: “If we don't eliminate the Longhorn Network and create our own network, they're going to continue to have issues with this league. You don't have a Big 12 Network; you have a network within the league that people consider a failure.”

Texas is currently locked in a 20-year, $295 million contract with ESPN, which provides content and infrastructure for the Longhorn Network. The first four-plus years of the relationship have been fraught with financial losses, with the number sitting at $48 million overall.

However, for Texas, the financial relationship remains beneficial. As Steven Godfrey of SB Nation pointed out, Texas' relationship with ESPN gives it a good chance at making as much, if not more, money than SEC schools from TV when all of their contracts are added together. The machinations are more complicated—and based on ESPN recouping its investment—but Texas remains in a solid position to be a financial behemoth going forward.

At issue is the fact Texas sees that money, not other Big 12 schools. When the Big 12 seemed on the precipice of dissolution, smaller schools were desperate for any agreement to keep the likes of Texas and Oklahoma around.

Now that they're far enough removed from the conference's nadir, it's understandable that other schools are getting antsy. The SEC, Big Ten and Pac-12 each have their own conference-owned networks. The SEC Network, in particular, has already become a behemoth, with many (unfairly) comparing it to the relative failure of the Longhorn Network.

“You are getting the SEC Network, and you are getting the Big Ten Network and you are getting the Pac[-12 Network],” Gundy said. “Until we come together as a group [and] find a financial solution to eliminating the Longhorn Network, [there will be issues].”

Clay Travis of Fox Sports agrees with Gundy:

From Texas' perspective, it's easy to see a reason for hesitation. Even if the Longhorn Network hasn't been a financial bonanza, the school is still guaranteed its own revenue—money that makes it more powerful than other Big 12 schools. Couple that with the Longhorns seemingly digging themselves out of a hole on the men's basketball and football side, and there's reason to believe more money can be made by waiting the situation out.

At the very least, the thing that once saved the Big 12 (Longhorn Network) now risks ending it. Big 12 schools cannot compete financially with other major programs without television revenue; it's just impossible in today's climate. Without Texas signing on, there is no Big 12 Network or anything of the sort. 

“We can't do a network without Texas raising its hand and saying, ‘We're willing to roll it in,'" Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby told Dodd earlier in March. “We've had those conversations, but they haven't raised their hand. But they also haven't said, ‘Stop right now. We're not willing to talk about it.'”

All of this superficially smells of multimillionaires sniping at each other. But it's possible that without change, this situation threatens the Big 12 again as we know it.

Follow Tyler Conway (@jtylerconway) on Twitter.