President of Iowa State University, Dr. Wendy Wintersteen, and Director of Athletics, Jamie Pollard, released a video discussing the future of Iowa State Athletics late on Monday night. This comes after the universities of Oklahoma and Texas have decided that they will not renew their grants of media rights with the Big 12 when the current contract expires in 2025.

Dr. Wintersteen acknowledged the anxiety of Cyclone fans about the uncertain future, but values the importance of the success of Iowa State athletics.

“I understand, as a leader of our great institution, how important the Big 12 Conference, and our athletics program is to the community.” Wintersteen continued, “A thriving athletics program at Iowa State University helps the university grow, it helps with overall support.”

Wintersteen mentioned the desire of the Iowa State athletics department to find a solution that works best for the institution.

“We remain firmly committed to working together to address the issues, to find the way forward, to support the department and to support our alums, our fans and our donors.”

Pollard discussed the fact that all programs are going to be affected by this, and they will be evaluating their individual programs accordingly.

“I think it is really important though, that all Cyclone fans understand that it is not a time to panic. Our industry is in a complete state of flux, and quite frankly, every institution should be evaluating where they are, and how things are going to look as this landscape continues to change, from the Supreme Court ruling, to the NIL, to the NCAA and to the College Football Playoff.”

A major takeaway was Pollard’s statement that this process will not be quick, and will likely continue until the contracts of Oklahoma and Texas with the Big 12 are nearing a close.

“This is not going to be solved anytime soon. The next four years will be a long, bumpy and challenging road for everybody in college athletics,” Pollard said. “As we learned, Oklahoma and Texas intend to honor their grant of rights through 2025. If that remains the case, we know the Big 12 is going to stay viable, the Big 12 is going to continue to win national championships and be competitive in NCAA Championships, and all ten members are going to continue to receive their full media shares.”

The Iowa State Athletics Department will continue to evaluate the landscape of college sports over the coming years, coming to a decision based off of the school’s individual situation.