After a search that took nearly the entirety of 2018, Fox has finally found a new president for the Big Ten Network. Francois McGillicuddy was introduced yesterday as only the second president in network history. He takes over day-to-day operations in 2019.
The role became available when Mark Silverman was elevated from Big Ten Network President to Fox Sports President of National Networks. Silverman has been holding down both jobs while the search for a replacement was under way.
McGillicuddy has been a member of the Fox Sports family since 2006. He started with SPEED. He moved to Fox Sports Ohio and Sportstime Ohio after SPEED became FS1.
No one is saying that McGillicuddy’s new job is or should be easy, but he is in a very advantageous position. Big Ten Network doesn’t have a distribution problem. It is in 60 million US homes. It doesn’t have a money problem either. The network has contributed to the Big 10’s record payouts to members since its launch. His focus will likely be on expanding the network’s reach as well as on day-to-day operations.
