IRVING, Texas — Not too long ago, a perception of doom and gloom hovered around the Big 12.

Media members flocked to Texas in 2016 for the league’s annual meetings, digging for information on expansion and which programs could potentially save a conference in need of rejuvenation.

Apparently, Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby missed that part.

“I really never bought into that narrative,” Bowlsby said Wednesday after the first day of league meetings from the Four Seasons Resort and Club.

Ultimately, the league decided to stay put at 10 teams, and life isn’t bad these days. Bowlsby touted how the Big 12, once mired in a competitive slump he deemed cyclical, is now in a place of financial stability. On Friday, the league will announce annual revenue expected to exceed 2017 figures of more than $34 million per school. The product is thriving, as the league recently sent a team to the College Football Playoff and Final Four.

“We’ve gone through significant processes to take a look at starting a championship game and whether or not we wanted to add members and some other significant considerations,” he said during a media session. “They’ve been thoughtful processes that our chancellors and presidents have gone through.”

While the smaller, condensed league has its challenges on the field — basketball and football know the grind it takes to win a championship — its biggest advantage may come with media rights.

The Big 12’s current grant of rights with ABC/ESPN and Fox expires in 2024-25, and Bowlsby remains confident the 10-team buffet it has to offer is more than sufficient.

“Some of our partners have said to us, ‘You know, you guys have the last beachfront property out there,’” Bowlsby said. “That by itself makes your property valuable. When they talk about that, they are talking about our third-tier package and our ability to pivot a little more (flexibly) than some others have had.”

The Big 12’s third-tier rights allow each school to market itself outside of traditional avenues.

Texas has the most lucrative package through the Longhorn Network. Oklahoma distributes its content through Fox via Sooner Sports TV. Then there are smaller deals like West Virginia’s third-tier rights broadcast across the state through AT&T Sports.

“Our third-tier rights are not like some others in the conference … but having the ability to have the third rights as some institutions do gives us a lot more flexibility as a conference and each institution to look at that,” said Shane Lyons, West Virginia’s athletic director and chair of the Big 12 Athletic Director’s Council.

“There’s a lot out there this conference has to offer that is very beneficial to us.”

Declining to delve into specifics regarding discussions he’s had with media partners, Bowlsby said just because the deal isn’t up for another seven years doesn’t mean the conference will wait that long to renegotiate, extend or consider other options.

The truth is, few know what the media rights market will look like in the near future, let alone by 2024-25.

“I defy anybody to accurately describe what it looks like three years from now,” Bowlsby said. “I don’t know that it’s possible to do that.”

Bowlsby likened the changing landscape to Netflix. In the past few years, that company has morphed from mailing DVDs to customers by mail to a major player in the streaming entertainment industry.

“I know if you are the producer of high-quality live content, it’s always going to have value,” he said. “Whether it’s with our traditional partners or whether new partners show themselves on the horizon, I think it’s difficult to tell at this point. If I had to venture a guess, I’d say there probably are going to be more players in this area than fewer.”