With the University of Texas’ announcement of a monster television deal with ESPN, the future of the Big 12’s rumored television contract has been left up in the air.

The deal for the yet unnamed Longhorns’ network is worth $300 million during the next 20 years.

“The University of Texas’ recent television announcement is exciting and positive news for both the Big 12 and for Iowa State,” ISU athletic director Jamie Pollard wrote in an e-mail Thursday.

Pollard wrote that the greatest benefit of the Longhorns’ deal with ESPN, aside from the monetary boost, is the proof that the Big 12 Conference’s schools now have a model for pricing negotiations for future TV deals.

“The University of Texas has found a way to significantly monetize their third-tier television rights,” Pollard wrote. “The fact that ESPN is willing to pay that level of money for one of our member’s third-tier rights bodes extremely well for the value the Big 12 should receive during our forthcoming Big 12 television contract.”

A school’s third-tier rights are for games not shown by ESPN or another network. Prior to the Texas deal, schools in the conference had almost exclusively sold their third-tier rights locally.

Texas’ deal with ESPN will broadcast one exclusive football game, eight men’s basketball game, women’s basketball games not shown on another network and coverage of all of the schools’ Olympic sports such as track and field, tennis and baseball, according to a story on ESPN.com.

The network will also broadcast select high school football games from around the state.

There will be an increase in the number of coaches’ shows, coverage of university events and lectures as well as commencement ceremonies.

The increased exposure — particularly for the Olympic sports — should lead to an increase in recruiting for the school’s lesser-known programs. However, Pollard said other Big 12 schools will benefit from appearing on the network in matchups with the Longhorns.

“Texas’ third-tier television rights will give national television exposure to other Big 12 institution’s sports [women’s basketball, volleyball, softball, baseball, soccer, etc.] that have not previously been televised,” he said.

During the summer, Texas was nearly lured away from the Big 12 to the Pac-10 in the conference’s efforts to expand to a 16-team “super-conference.” However, the opportunity for an exclusive network was not available in the Pac-10, one of the reasons Texas remained in the Big 12.

The deal will send more than $25 million to UT academics in the next five years, as well, according The Associated Press.

The network is scheduled to launch in September.