FRISCO, Texas — The Big 12 will let viewers watch and listen to the live replay review conversation during select football games this fall, providing a look inside the officiating process as it happens.
The move, which was approved by the conference’s presidents on Friday, comes one year after the ACC and ESPN began airing replay conversations during many of the league’s games, drawing rave reviews from fans. Before that, the United Football League also took viewers inside the replay room. Big 12 games air on ESPN and Fox networks.
“(Commissioner Jim Phillips) and the ACC were first movers collegiately, they did a hell of a job,” Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark said. “We took that idea and said, boy, it’s transferable to the Big 12.”
The Big 12 did use live video to show the replay review process a few weeks into the 2025 football season, but its setup couldn’t provide the audio. That has been fixed for 2026. The league is building out a new replay operations center in the Irving, Texas, office building that houses its headquarters for 2027, and the replay center will be used for several Big 12 sports.
For football, the league’s top in-stadium replay officials will be together in the center when it opens and lead the review process during games. The league has not yet determined with ESPN and Fox how many games will include this as part of broadcasts this fall.
“The greater transparency into the process helps fans understand, and that’s good for the sport,” Big 12 chief football and competition officer Scott Draper told The Athletic. “It’s good when everyone can see when we have a tight, difficult call, what that decision-making was and the angles we had.”
Fans last year applauded both the transparency and entertainment value of the access, compared to using a TV rules analyst. In the era of widely legalized sports gambling, that openness can help dispel conspiracies, ACC and Big 12 officials have said. It also makes for better TV.
“That’s great access,” Yormark said. “We want to find more ways to get our fans closer to what we do. That’s certainly one way, letting them experience what goes on on a Saturday. I’m excited about it.”
