Texas Longhorns - TV Channel

TV Channel

On January 20, 2011, the UT athletic department announced plans to launch a 24-hour channel devoted entirely to UT sports and academic activities at the University of Texas. This channel, a joint venture with ESPN, takes advantage of a clause in new Big 12 Conference television contracts allowing Texas a bigger share of revenues than the conference's other members; in turn, it was part of the agreement to keep the conference together amidst a full-scale plan by the Pac-10 Conference to raid Big 12 members. (The Pac-10 only gained one Big 12 school, Colorado). Both sides hoped to launch the channel for the 2011–2012 academic year, but needed carriage commitments first.

Banners with the name "ESPN Texas" was visible during segments of SportsCenter and other programs originating from Sundance Square in Fort Worth, Texas in the week prior to Super Bowl XLV. The channel was launched in August 2011 as the Longhorn Network.

Before its launch, the network had controversial plans to air high school football games, an institution throughout the state of Texas. Currently, the state's governing body for public high school sports, the University Interscholastic League, prohibits live game telecasts on Friday nights. It had also been speculated that any telecast on the new channel, regardless of when it aired, could violate NCAA rules against unfair recruiting inducements. This was especially an issue for Texas A&M; in fact, the plans for the network to air high school games directly led to A&M's decision in July, 2011, to bolt for the SEC. The Big 12 then approved a temporary rule in August 2011 banning the planned high school telecasts, and within two weeks, the NCAA ruled that no school or conference network could broadcast high school games, ending that particular controversy.