LUBBOCK – As the Big 12 continues to explore a wide range of expansion options, an issue at the forefront of those conversations is television contracts and what the conference will do with its future broadcast rights.

Currently, the Big 12 is the only Power Five conference without either its own network or with plans to create one – the ACC announced last month a partnership with ESPN for the launch of the ACC Network starting in 2019 – and what to do when its current rights deals with ESPN and FOX expire in 2024-25 swirls around any discussions of adding additional teams.

Any broadcast rights deal with the Big 12 has a Texas-sized obstacle in the way with the Longhorn Network, but live television remains king for networks attempting to battle cord cutting and fading viewership numbers. So, the conference will have a viable market either way.

Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt, who also serves as the chair of the College Football Playoff Selection Committee, said last week the Big 12 must be aware of all distribution options and plan for those when examining expansion options and future broadcast deals.

“The one thing I’m confident of is technology continues to change,” Hocutt said. “The one thing we must do, and it’s important to us, is to be at the forefront of technology. How are we going to receive our content five or 10 years from now? I don’t think any of us know. But it’s changing, and we need to be at the forefront of that.”

Streaming services is a direction content distribution is trending, and a company such as Netflix, Amazon or Hulu could be a distribution channel for the Big 12 to reach as many households as possible with user-specific content.

The Big 12 already features several schools that stream games for a fee – Kansas State (K-StateHD.tv) and Iowa State (CyclonesTV) – while schools like Oklahoma and Oklahoma State both have the ability to broadcast and stream games already on campus.

An a la carte streaming service for the Big 12 would allow users to pay for what they want, and it would eliminate the issue of being at the mercy of regional-based networks for fans who live outside the area.

That type of a decision for the Big 12 is a long way off, and it might be a different type of service in a decade that the conference’s eye is drawn to for its broadcast rights.

Either way, the league’s expansion decision – mostly spurred by the additional television revenue it would bring member schools – will play a large role in the conference’s next broadcast contract. Whether the Big 12 adds two teams, four teams or none at all, those decisions are tethered quite clearly to its next broadcast rights deal.

The Big 12 wants to be at the forefront of technology and could get creative for its next broadcast rights contract, it just remains to be seen what that will be nine years from now.