Is that ESPN had no paying extra money for the right teams -- and that BYU was one of those teams. The problem was, BYU was being hurt by the LGBT politics and Texas kept pushing Houston, and ESPN didn't want to pay for expansion without BYU, and didn't want to pay for four new teams.
This agreement (assuming it happens) still allows for expansion but puts on ESPN's terms, rather than the Big 12s -- they can't just vote in 4 teams or some two that have few fans.