Beebe has eye on future

Commissioner talks turkey about 12-year-old league

By B.G. Brooks, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Monday, May 19, 2008

Mike Fuentes / Associated Press/2007

Dan Beebe, who has served as commissioner for the Big 12 Conference for 81/2 months, says the distribution of revenue, branding and television rights are the biggest issues facing the league.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story should have said future Big 12 championship game sites for football (2008, Kansas City, Mo.; 2009-10, Arlington, Texas) and men's/women's basketball (2009, Oklahoma City; 2010-11, Kansas City) were announced last year. This error was corrected.

Dan Beebe as a gleeful knee-capper - figuratively speaking, of course - is hard to picture. But Beebe has loved most of his jobs, and that includes his stint nearly two decades ago as director of enforcement for the NCAA.

"I might be a little perverse, but I enjoyed it," Beebe said. "I always liked kind of putting the pieces of the puzzle together. . . . I always thought it was fascinating to try and find out the truth."

He and his operatives did exactly that with Southern Methodist's football program in the mid- and late 1980s - and, oh, did the truth hurt.

Numerous NCAA violations earned SMU the only "death penalty" delivered thus far by the organization.

But Beebe, 50, has moved on and up. He's 81/2 months into his tenure as commissioner of the Big 12 Conference, and of this job, he said, "I thought I would really like (it), but it's turned out that I just love it."

On the eve of his first Big 12 spring meetings as commish, he sat down for a Q&A session:

Question: What's the biggest issue facing the Big 12 right now?

Answer: Part of what always has been stirred up is how we distribute the revenue right now. . . . There were very carefully negotiated terms upon which the conference was formed. In the landscape of intercollegiate athletics, there probably are other conferences that distribute the revenue more equally.

And there's branding. I think it's time, after we've been in existence 12 years, that we look at how we are perceived internally and externally. And how do we want to be perceived in the next 10, 15, 20 years?

And we're three years away from negotiating with our cable partner, Fox, in a future media deal. In between then and now - I want to start in the fall - I really want to look closely and monitor the landscape of media and new media and see where we want to go, how do we strategize to put the conference in the best position to go forward?

Q: When the league was formed, there was some contention - much of it covert - between North and South schools. Do you see any remnants of that rift, or is this a happy family?

A: That's definitely what I perceive. If anything, there's more of a linkage between institutions that are similarly situated with resources, and that goes across the North and South. Sometimes, media and public make a bigger deal out of the North-South issues than I ever hear inside the conference. I think those issues have been addressed.

Q: How about the BCS presidents' recent rejection of the plus-one format - is that a good decision for college football?

A: Yes, as far as I'm concerned . . . I don't think a playoff is beneficial to us. I think we need to continue to make sure we clearly distinguish ourselves from the NFL. I think we've got the best regular season in any sport at any level, and I think any game you add to this system is going to diminish those below it . . . and I came from 14 years of playoff football (as commissioner of the Ohio Valley Conference). I didn't view it as any great shakes - I think the bowl experience is much better.

Those factors lend their support for not having any kind of additional games, including a plus- one. I've never seen a sport create a four-team playoff and it remain a four-team playoff.

Q: Does the Big 12 need any sort of divisional realignment?

A: I don't think so. . . . In basketball, we don't have two divisions, it's only divisional in terms of scheduling. So you're really only talking about football. I thought when I came in and some of the media and public were talking to (former commissioner) Kevin (Weiberg) about what to do about the strength of the South in football. . . . My response has always been, 'Hold on, things don't always stay the same.' And look at this year: The North had a stronger record. I don't think you jump to conclusions on that. I think we're situated pretty well.

Q: At 12, is this conference at a good, comfortable number?

A: I think it's a comfortable number. I think the only way expansion would make sense is if there's an institution or two that would bring a lot more to the table instead of taking more away - from my standpoint, exposure and revenue.

If there's an institution out there, if by adding them to the conference it would get us more exposure on television and more revenue, then . . . that might make sense. But at this time, I think we're at a comfortable number.

Q: Are any conference members making any noise about looking elsewhere?

A: Not to me. I think everybody is pretty satisfied with the alliance we have. We occupy the top universities in this part of the country, in the heartland area. I think it's something people are very satisfied with. Our youth (as a league) probably has created some areas where we need to mature, where we're not the same as 50-, 70-, 100-year-old conferences that got by issues we're still dealing with . . . but this conference has come on the scene and had a lot of great success.

Q: It's so important now for any number of reasons, how do you enforce conference members strengthening their nonconference schedules?

A: Right now, there's been no vote by the membership to require a certain strength of nonconference schedule. Then the question is, if they wanted to do that, then they could vote in - just like all the other rules - that you must schedule teams of a certain status, and if you don't, there'll be some type of penalty. At this point, it's just been left to encouragement. I think our institutions, by and large, have stepped up.

Meetings devoid of 'pressure'

The Big 12 Conference begins three days of spring meetings today, concluding with a board of directors meeting at week's end. Because of the resolution of big- ticket items - naming championship sites in football and basketball and settling TV contracts - these meetings might not have the high news yield of past spring sessions.

That's OK with first-year commissioner Dan Beebe: "I'm very fortunate that I can go through these meetings without having that kind of pressure on right now."

According to Beebe, budgetary issues and the following two items top the agenda:

* Beebe wants "input from our group about what we want (as a conference) in the next round of BCS talks. There's going to be a window open for Fox in the fall, and I think we need to be prepared to say what serves our interest best as we move forward."

Fox Sports Net manages the telecast and distribution of Big 12 football games as well as a significant number of women's basketball and other sports events. But this past summer, the conference announced the continuation of its ABC/ESPN relationship with an eight-year multimedia and sponsorship agreement.

The new contract provides more football exposure for the Big 12 on ABC, as well as additional coverage of basketball and Olympic sports with

ESPN. The contract begins with the 2008-09 academic year and goes through 2015-16.

* Improving academic performance will be discussed, with proposals possibly made to the NCAA. Beebe has expressed disappointment in the league's graduation success rate and said it will be monitored more closely.

He said four years of academic data have been collected and "I want to have discussions with our group about where they feel we are as a conference and how can we impact the national agenda on academic performance."

The NCAA has formed task forces in baseball, basketball and football, with Beebe and Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione (chairman) members of the football group.

Future Big 12 championship game sites for football (2008, Kansas City, Mo.; 2009-10, Arlington, Texas) and men's/women's basketball (2009, Oklahoma City; 2010-11, Kansas City) were announced last year.

For starters

Dan Beebe will celebrate his first anniversary as Big 12 Conference commissioner on Sept. 5. His top three highlights from 81/2 months on the job:

* "Having such a strong football season, where we had four teams in the top 10 - which is twice as many as any other league - and five in the top 25. It was a terrific start to my tenure."

* "Women's basketball was very strong, with the No. 1 RPI in the country (as a league) and, for the first time ever, having eight teams win first-round (NCAA) games."

* "The men's championship, with Kansas winning (the NCAA title). And not just Kansas - we had a strong postseason showing. So on the competitive side, that's all been terrific."