Big 12 sues Texas Tech, Ken Paxton over Brendan Sorsby dispute

[00:00:00]The Big 12 Conference sued Texas Tech University and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in federal court saying recent legal threats against the conference violate their First Amendment rights. The legal question at play here is whether the conference can sanction Texas Tech for playing its quarterback Brenden Sorsby who admitted to placing thousands of bets on college and professional sports games. Attorneys General in other states are now weighing in against Paxton. Capital Reporter Dylan McKim explains why this lawsuit could have a big impact on the future of college sports.

[00:00:34]>> The Big 12 Conference stuck between a rock and a hard place over the fallout of Texas Tech quarterback Brenden Sorsby. Sorsby admitted to placing thousands of bets on college and professional sports games during his collegiate career. A Texas judge prohibited the National Collegiate Athletics Association from stopping Sorsby from playing in this year's football season. That decision faced backlash from other Big 12 schools who have called on their conference to sanction Texas Tech if they allow Sorsby to play. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton warned the Big 12 that any sanctions against Texas Tech would violate antitrust laws and said legal action would be taken.

[00:01:12]>> We have Texas Tech versus schools like Houston and Texas Christian and uh Baylor and all these other schools in the Big 12 that are also part of Texas and the Attorney General seems to be taking a side in this.

[00:01:25]>> Sam Erlich has studied lawsuits against the NCAA for the past decade. He says it's not rare for an Attorney General to get involved with collegiate sports, but he has never seen an Attorney General get involved on behalf of someone who admitted to gambling. Attorneys General in states like Kansas, Utah, and Oklahoma have all pushed back against Paxton arguing the Big 12 does have the right to sanction Texas Tech. The conference is now asking a federal judge to make that determination. A lawsuit that will set a precedent on the authority of college conferences in the coming years.

[00:01:58]>> It's going to have broad ripple effects, not just for, you know, being able to issue suspensions, but a lot of talk about the Big 12 and the SEC breaking away as well, and this could legally impact that conversation, too.

[00:02:08]>> In Austin, I'm Dylan McNamee.

[00:02:10]>> The presidents of Big 12 schools were scheduled to meet today to discuss potential punishments for Sallsbury.

[00:02:16]It's unlikely that a decision will be made today.