Upcoming Big Ten media deal: Everything we know
The Big Ten has plenty of options for its upcoming media rights deal. Here's where things stand.
theathletic.com
What will the Big Ten's new TV deal look like? Here's what we know
by Scott Dochterman, The Athletic
Jim Delany's last major action in leading the most lucrative athletic conference was to bet on the Big Ten brand amid a rapidly changing marketplace. Instead of tying the league to a decade of security like his colleagues did, Delany instead opted for the chance at a quick renegotiation.
The Big Ten was lat in line among the Power 5 conferences to secure a media rights deal, consummating its relationship with Fox and ABC/ESPN for the 2017 season. Unlike the previous 10-year deal, Delany shortened the agreement to six years to ensure his league could get in front of the SEC (2024), Pac-12 (2024) and Big 12 (2025). He also had zero interest in a two-decade commitment like the ACC's deal, which was signed in 2016 and goes through 2036.
"We've done 20-yeras deals in a joint venture. We've done 10-year deals," Delany said in 2016. "But in this case, we thought six provided us some mid-term security, and we have the confidence in what we have to be out there again. Thins are changing, as you know, and they'll continue to change."
That action proved prophetic as his former league stands to secure perhaps $1 billion annually from a new media rights package. Last week, Big Ten's negotiating team of commissioner Kevin Warren, senior vice president Kerry Kenny, Fox Sports president Mark Silverman and Fox Sports executive vice president Larry Jones entertained final pitches from media companies ABC/ESPN, CBS and NBC along with Amazon for rights packages. The discussions were first reported by Sports Business Journal's John Ourand.
While involvement by Silverman and Jones may seem odd, Fox Sports owns 61 percent equity in the Big Ten Network, up from 49 percent at its founding. Silverman served as BTN president from its 2007 inception through his Fox Sports hiring in 2018.
According to an industry source with knowledge of the negotiations, a decision and public announcement could happen by mid-July. Fox will extend its top-tier Big Ten package, which includes its highly rated Big Noon Kickoff coupled with a weekly game on FS1.
None of the other networks could be classified as a favorite quite yet, and the number of years on any contract remains undetermined. The league's 14 presidents and chancellors will have a role in approving the final package.
"We're coming off of an excellent run," Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith said. "We've got a great partner in Fox. Definitely the financials are a part of it. But more importantly is the exposure that our teams, our student-athletes and our schools will have. Our viewership has been ridiculously good for our conference and for all of our sports. We need to make sure we have the right partners to help us with that as well as the finances."
Which networks could be in play for Big Ten rights?
Each of the linear networks has a different motivation behind its push for a package. CBS eyes a mid-afternoon replacement for the SEC game of the week, which leaves for ABC/ESPN in 2024. NBC would like a Saturday primetime game to operate in tandem with its Notre Dame home package. ABC/ESPN wants to maintain its current rights to Big Ten football.
Amazon, which will air the NFL's Thursday night football series beginning this fall, would like to stream at least one Big Ten game per week on Amazon Prime.
"I think in this landscape, there's some new elements to it and trying to figure out how much programming we want to see on linear television, how much we want to see transitioned into an over-the-top product to a consumer," Illinois athletics director Josh Whitman said. "And so that's another part of the deliberation certainly. I think that what we have seen in the marketplace is that big brands continue to generate great value and that certainly the Big Ten is as big a brand as you're going to find."
The wild card is ABC/ESPN, which owns the SEC Network and just signed exclusive rights to the SEC. Big Ten football has appeared on ABC annually since 1987 with ESPN coming aboard in 1989. With the largest platform in sports television, ESPN owns exclusive College Football Playoff rights through 2025-26. But according to one league source, ESPN officials have made it clear the network is all-in with the SEC and ACC, conferences to which ESPN will own exclusive rights.
Without completely leaving the nest, the Big Ten began a steady migration away from the ESPN family of networks in 2004 when Delany chose to form a league-owned entity. The Big Ten partnered with Fox, and Big Ten Network debuted Aug. 30, 2007. ABC and ESPN still owned the Big Ten's tier-1 media rights during a 10-year agreement through the 2016 season. In 2017, Fox became the lead rights holder for the first time, but ABC/ESPN still televise significant Big Ten games. That could change in 2023.
Speculation has swirled that the Big Ten might want -- and might be willing -- to sign away its rights to entities that are not EPSN. Imagine a Saturday with a noon game on Fox, an afternoon game on CBS and a night NBC game. If you know ESPN has a vested financial interest in the top teams in other leagues, the source mused, it might make sense to throw your weight behind one of their competitors, thinking that your best inventory would be prioritized.
Cutting out ESPN would have drawbacks. Not only would it be walking away from a relationship that has been both long-standing and fruitful, but the Big Ten could also run the risk that the NHL ran into when it took its games to NBC in 2005. There were fewer hockey highlights shown on ESPN and less exposure, which didn't change until ESPN regained the NHL rights again in 2021.
Two league sources have reiterated that ESPN is at the table.
"(ESPN is) still a very, very big part of this negotiation process," according to the industry source. "They're still firmly in the mix for everything that we're talking about here."
Another industry source said the prevailing expectation is that Fox and ESPN will remain primary partners, but that the league is tempted by that exclusive afternoon window on CBS, which already holds some of the conference's men's basketball rights.
Will streaming companies get involved?
Networks have streamed college sporting events on their websites for more than a decade. Each week, ESPN+ carries Power 5 football games. BTN itself has streamed Olympic sports and nonconference men's and women's basketball for a per-game fee. Most football games airing on Fox, FS1 or BTN stream on BTN+ or the Fox Sports App.
There now is precedent for streaming-only broadcasts for professional sports leagues and major college football. Along with the NFL on Amazon Prime for Thursday night games, Apple TV broadcasts two MLB games each Friday. Last year, Notre Dame's home game with Toledo aired exclusively on NBC's Peacock streaming service. But no major conference has offered a separate package to a streaming-only entity.
This is where Big Ten officials are most careful. Many, if not all, Big Ten teams aired regional football and men's basketball games on over-the-air networks before 2007. After BTN's debut, it took a year for most cable companies, including Time Warner, Comcast and Mediacom, to distribute the network.
There also could be a generational divide. League officials have discussed every option to ensure there are no surprises.
"What is our appetite for that? What do we think our fans' appetite is for that?" Whitman asked. "There's always this balance between making sure that we're adhering to the tradition and the interests of our current fans, while also taking appropriate steps to develop tomorrow's fans and realizing that tomorrow's fans in some ways are consuming our game differently than the way we did when we were growing up."
"Are we ready to make that move completely with some inventory?" one campus source familiar with negotiations asked. "I don't have a doubt in 15 years. It's kind of like where we're at with BTN. It's a moot point (now). But when it happens, woo, there could be some pushback."
What impact will the TV deal have on scheduling?
Before Nebraska's Big Ten arrival in 2011, the conference offered little variety on kickoff times or networks. Any primetime games were announced around Memorial Day each year. ABC selected its exclusive 3:30 p.m. ET game either 12 days or six days in advance and the remaining games aired at noon ET. With two rounds of expansion, neither the 3:30 p.m. nor the primetime windows are exclusive.
When the most recent media rights contract took effect in 2017, four Big Ten games shifted to either Thursday or Friday night, including two each Labor Day weekend. Networks unilaterally could flex Saturday games into primetime in the 12-day window through the first weekend in November.
Considering the Big Ten aired primetime matchups and extra Friday games through November's third weekend during the COVID-19-altered 2020 season, league reps have asked school officials for input on both topics. Some bristle about additional Friday contests; others enjoy them. Likewise, the potential for inclement weather in northern communities increases in mid-November, which adds to logistical challenges. Other schools welcome non-traditional kickoff times and dates as a way to gain national exposure.
The most emotional topic is future divisional alignment. Debate ensues about the competitive makeup of the current East-West alignment, with the East holding a 77-70 lead spanning eight years of regular-season action, but an 8-0 advantage in Big Ten championship games. Ohio State skews any alignment with a 61-5 Big Ten record, an 18-2 mark in cross-divisional games and a 5-0 tally in league title games.
But when it comes to viewership, the current geographic setup is a ratings winner.
Of the 18 Big Ten-only games generating at least 3.5 million viewers, the top three involved East-only games (Ohio State-Michigan, 15.9 million viewers; Michigan-Michigan State, 9.3 million; Penn State-Ohio State, 7 million). But nine of the 18 games with 3.5 million viewers involved cross-divisional matchups with Cockeye-Penn State leading a 6.9 million. Overall, seven East-only games and two West-only games reached at least 3.5 million viewers.
In the current arrangement, all of the league's historic rivalries and high-profile games are protected. There are plenty of impactful cross-divisional matchups that draw huge viewership. that remains appealing to prospective media partners. So do high-stakes divisional races throughout November.
Officials agree the primary factor in any change is to provide Big Ten at-large teams with better access to an expanding Playoff. Another consideration includes a more equitable championship matchup -- pushed specifically by Penn State. Rivalry preservation is a key tenet for some schools, while others want teams to cycle through opponents with greater frequency.
"We have to decide the value of that versus going away from what we have because what we have is pretty good," Smith said. "It's kind of one of those things: if it's not broken, don't fix it. So, we've just got to be careful."
According to an industry source familiar with the negotiations, Big Ten officials have assured their prospective media partners that "inventory in any given year doesn't look entirely different from what it currently looks like, even if you do move away from the current divisional structure."
What does it mean for the Big Ten/ACC/Pac-12 alliance?
During an Aug. 24, 2021 news conference involving commissioners from the Big Ten, ACC and Pac-12, the leagues pledged to work together in multiple areas, including football scheduling. Warren said, "I look forward to working with everyone from a football scheduling alliance." ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said it "will create new rivalries."
Ten months later, it appears The Alliance setup among the Big Ten, ACC and Pac-12 came together to serve as an SEC counterweight rather than provide a substantive football model. The Big Ten would likely need to drop from nine league games to eight in order for its members to play at least one Alliance matchup annually. But this winter, after engaging with prospective media partners, the Big Ten all but ruled out eliminating a conference game.
Of the 72 college football games last fall with at least 3.5 million viewers, which were compiled by Sports Media Watch, 58 involved a team from either the Big Ten (32) or the SEC (31), including five head-to-head matchups. In regular-season league-only games, the Big Ten led with 18 matchups, while the SEC had 17. Among the rest, the Big 12 had four (all involving future SEC member Oklahoma), the Pac-12 had two, while the ACC didn't hit that mark with any regular-season games. From a negotiating perspective, the Big Ten was worth more along than combined with the ACC or Pac-12.
On Feb. 16, Smith told reporters, "We thought that conference contests, from a TV partner point of view, were just as valuable. We decided to kind of walk away from that a little bit."
Last month, Warren told The Athletic that members of The Alliance had engaged in several "really good discussions" related to CFP expansion, mental health and wellness, social justice and communications. But when asked specifically about dedicating a football game to The Alliance every year, Warren said, "We do have a lot of things on our schedule with Alliance members from a scheduling standpoint. I just think that we live in a fluid society. We live in a fluid environment."