transaction fully within the rules but of obviously greater benefit to the conference. (Bribes are usually hidden, and are used to benefit two parties at the expense of, and without the permission of, a third party which is providing service to a first party via the decision making of a second party when said second party accepts remuneration from the first party.) Say BYU makes $8 million a year on media deals, but according to the Big 12, BYU is revenue neutral at about $20 million a year as part of a their conference. With more money, BYU could say "We will join your conference for five years, and you don't need to pay us the $20 million a year, since we have enough money to cover the costs over that time period." In that regard, BYU indirectly pays a conference $100 million, but since the third party (in this case, the media) allows such an arrangement, it is not a bribe - it is just a contract that severely undercuts BYU.

Now, there may be some laws that say that BYU could not enter into such a contract at a value of $0 but maybe it would be agreeable at $5 million a year or something.

Either way, BYU simply having more money makes it easier for BYU to be more desirable for inclusion into a major conference from a financial perspective.