Just weeks out from kickoff of the Big Ten season, fans will need to grow accustomed to watching the game on a variety of different networks. The conference inked a record-breaking seven-year media rights deal with CBS Sports, NBC Sports and FOX Sports for approximately $8 billion, making the contract the largest in college football history. ESPN had been the broadcast home of the conference for over 40 years, but it pulled out of media rights negotiations last August and opted to lose the rights. The “Worldwide Leader” still carries the Big 12, Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and Southeastern Conference (SEC) amid its large sports portfolio.
On Carman and Lima’s Emerging Podcast Scene through 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland, Ohio, Ken Carman reminisced on the days when the Big Ten used to be on ESPN. He vividly remembers the commentary team of Brent Musburger, Jack Arute and Gary Danielson and the presentation of the games surrounded by roaring crowds in the Midwest.
“We didn’t know how good we had it,” Carman said. “There’s so many games – and I’m talking to an ESPN play-by-play guy here when I’m saying this – we have so many games where not a lot of guys stick out….. I hope it’s still the same presentation.”
The conversation came after Carman and Lima were remembering Ohio State Buckeyes teams of the past, including a run to the Fiesta Bowl in the early 2000s. Lima then mentioned how the Big Ten will be on a new network for 2023 and beyond, something that left Carman slightly incredulous. Nonetheless, Lima recognizes the value of the conference, evinced through the completed media rights deal, and how important it was for other networks to break up the monopoly on college sports held by ESPN.
“That’s how bad these other networks were dying to get the Big Ten,” Lima said. “Not because they felt the Big Ten was the best football, but because the Big Ten – [and] people still don’t understand this in the South – the Big Ten, by and large, [just has] bigger fanbases; they have more people around the country.”
Whether it is Ohio State, Purdue, Michigan or Penn State, the conference has continued to stand out in the college sports landscape as some of its counterparts, most notably the Pac-12, have lagged behind. The Big Ten is holding preliminary expansion talks as other schools, including Oregon and Stanford, consider entry.
Sports fans in the southern region of the United States tend to watch the SEC, which continues to be televised by ESPN and its SEC Network. In fact, the conference will commence a new 10-year media rights contract worth $3 billion prior to the start of next season. The part of the sport, however, that Lima believes they do not understand is how the value of a conference spans beyond the quality of football being played.
“They always say, ‘SEC, it means more,’” Lima conveyed. “But the amount of people that drop everything on Saturdays in the Midwest to follow college football – it’s why they don’t have the best teams, but they still get as much, if not the most money.”
