University of Houston officially invited to join Big 12 Conference
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- There won't be any bag-packing or boxing up the attic, but moving day will soon come for the University of Houston.
The video above is from previous reporting.
The Big 12 Conference board of directors made the invitation official Friday for UH to join the group.
The invitation comes just days after the University of Houston board of regents approved the move and five years after the one-time powerhouse league refused to invite the Cougars.
UH is now expected to join Brigham Young University, the University of Central Florida and the University of Cincinnati in a new Big 12 after the University of Texas and Oklahoma decided to move to the SEC.
In a teleconference late Friday morning, Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby said Houston is expected to join the conference no later than July 1, 2024, but the Cougars could begin play as Big 12 members as soon as 2023.
Renu Khator, the University of Houston's chancellor, remarked the move as transformative, allowing "a great University of Houston" to turn into "a greater University of Houston."
The Big 12 also has Baylor University, Iowa State, the University of Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State University, Texas Christian University, Texas Tech, and West Virginia.
Houston is currently part of the American Athletic Conference, which would have to pay a $10 million exit fee.
The implications for UH could mean the school sharing into lucrative TV rights revenue. In the last fiscal year, each Big 12 school reportedly earned up to $40.5 million in revenue.
In comparison, a school in the American Athletic Conference earned on average almost $7 million from TV rights revenue.
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