FOX Sports isn’t renewing its deal with WWE for SmackDown and the Big Ten is the biggest beneficiary of the move.
The conference will move nine games to Friday nights to air on the FOX broadcast network, and new Commissioner Tony Petitti is welcoming the opportunity to showcase brands to a wider national audience.
“It’ll be significant in terms of the amount of national exposure that we have on Friday night on Fox,” Petitti told The Athletic’s Scott Dochterman.
FOX paid a significant portion of the new money to the conference not only as part of its historic media rights deal, but also to encourage both Oregon and Washington to join the league beginning next year, alongside previously joining USC and UCLA.
Previously on Friday evenings, FOX aired the WWE program year-round, with Big Ten games played on Fridays airing on FS1 or Big Ten Network. The wrestling organization inked a five-year deal with NBCUniversal to move SmackDown to USA Network in a deal earning it $287 million per year.
