Memphis reportedly pitches Power conference on ‘$200 million offer’ in sponsorships
By Andrew Olson
Published:
Memphis has reportedly pitched the Big 12 on membership by committing to “hundreds of millions” in affiliated sponsorships.
The news comes from Ross Dellenger of Yahoo! Sports. Memphis, which counts FedEx, Lowe’s and AutoZone among its corporate partners, reportedly approached the Big 12 with a membership offer “expected to be as high as $200 million over the next 5 years.”
Dellenger details that there are 3 parts to Memphis’ “no-risk” proposal. The school would not receive distributed revenue from the final 5 years of the Big 12’s ESPN/FOX TV deal. It would add sponsorships in excess of $150 million over 5 years. Memphis even agrees to “subject itself to expulsion” if not adding value to the Big 12 by 2030-31.
Despite the offer being lucrative, it may not have support within the Big 12. Twelve of the 16 members would need to be in favor of adding Memphis.
Memphis has been a member of the American conference (no longer the AAC) since 2013. Memphis was vetted but not added when the Big 12 expanded by bringing in Cincinnati, UCF, Houston and BYU.
In the most lucrative membership proposal in college sports history, Memphis has made a $200 million offer to enter the Big 12, sources tell @YahooSports.
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) July 21, 2025
For now, it does not have enough support but potentially sets a standard for all future expansion.https://t.co/MefkD9du7B
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
