committing a ton of money to the B10.

In other words it may not have increased the P12’s value, but it made it so ESPN can actually afford to pay the going rate. And perhaps ESPN is willing to overpay a bit to keep the late night slot and try to compete with the B10.

I agree that ESPN can accomplish the same thing with BYU, UU, ASU, CU and UA in the B12, but right now they aren’t in the B12 (minus BYU) and perhaps ESPN can get them cheaper by leaving them in the P12, since it has been reported that the P12 deal will be worth less per team than the B12 deal.