The Big 12 Found Its Price—and Lost the Moral High Ground

I wish I could say exactly what I want to say. Okay, I’ll say it in an edited form:

Duck the Big 12!

Here’s what has me steamed. The Big 12 came down hard on Texas Tech for fighting for a player’s opportunity to play football while he was undergoing treatment for a gambling addiction. It wasn’t just the conference office, either. Several individual schools reportedly expressed serious concerns about allowing Brendan Sorsby to take the field.

They wanted to act like Texas Tech supporting a player in rehabilitation was somehow beneath the dignity and integrity of the conference. Ultimately, the controversy became too much. Sorsby dropped his legal fight, left the program and began preparing for a possible professional football career.

Welcome To The Monster Energy Big 12

Now comes the announcement that the Big 12 has sold Monster Energy the entitlement sponsorship for its football and basketball regular seasons. That means we’ll now be treated to “Monster Energy Big 12 Football” and “Monster Energy Big 12 Basketball.” The agreement also includes Monster branding on uniforms, football fields, basketball courts and conference events.

What a bunch of cheesy sellouts.

Full stop: I have no problem with Monster Energy taking advantage of the opportunity. The Big 12 put a price tag on its identity, and somebody was going to buy it. Monster simply wrote the check.

My problem is with the Big 12 pretending to occupy some towering ethical high ground one minute, then turning around and covering college athletes, courts and football fields with corporate logos the next.

College sports have officially taken another giant step into overbranding. Even the NFL hasn’t gone this far yet, although I wouldn’t be shocked if next season opened with the Liberty Biberty National Football League.

Yes, the schools will receive a share of the money. I understand that college athletics has entered a strange and expensive new era. Schools are paying players, television agreements are shifting and athletic departments are searching under every couch cushion for additional revenue.

That doesn’t make this any less ridiculous.

You cannot lecture Texas Tech about dignity, integrity and the reputation of the conference, then climb out of a tiny car wearing clown noses and sponsored jersey patches. The Big 12 wanted to play morality police when Tech supported a player battling an addiction. Now it has sold the name of its biggest sports seasons to the highest bidder.

What a joke.

Read More: What Staff Found Inside Nightmare On 19th Street After Hours

Lastly, I’d like to remind everyone that we do not have to call it that. We didn’t negotiate the agreement, we weren’t consulted and we are not getting paid.

I absolutely refuse to use the sponsored title in any story I report.

To me, it’s still the Big 12—and apparently that name is now the only part of the conference that isn’t for sale.