negotiating round such that it won’t take as much from two new teams. I seem to remember reading that the Big XII is basically paid as though it were a 12 team league based on current values.

If a TV provider says, “We’re dropping your per team value and we want more inventory,” there might be an incentive for them to take two new teams that don’t require as much added revenue as would have been required last go around.

I’m not well versed in that though and my memory is fuzzy. I also seem to remember that there was something in the current contract that would have required ESPN to pay a lot more if they added two teams even if the two teams weren’t worth it. Every team would have made more money, but it would have really soured the relationship with ESPN at a time when ESPN was laying people off in droves.