Florida State trustee: We have not approached Big 12 and vice versa

[jbcarol]

"We have not heard a thing and we have not approached them and they have not approached us," said Andy Haggard, the chair of FSU's Board of Trustees. "If anybody approaches us, we are certainly going to listen to them. We have an obligation to Florida State to listen. You can't close the door."

The door to a possible relationship may begin to open this week when the Big 12 conducts its annual meetings in Kansas City, Mo.

The meetings may also help shed some light on the league's revised television contract.

Sports Business Journal reported two months ago the Big 12 had finalized a deal that would pay each of its member schools $20 million annually, but no deal has been announced. That has fueled rumors that the league may be waiting to see if expansion may add even more revenue to the contract.

The Big 12's television contract - and its payouts to member schools - is certainly a topic FSU stakeholders will find interesting.

The FSU athletics department's board of directors approved earlier this month a 2012-13 budget that contains a $2.4-million shortfall.