Big Ten Signs Blockbuster TV Deal Worth Nearly $8 Billion

Back in the 1890’s when Purdue President James Smart invited representatives from some of the other Midwest schools to talk about forming a conference to help regulate college athletics, mainly football which had seen hundreds of deaths, he could not have imagined the dominoes he would be setting up. Now, one hundred plus years later and the Big Ten has signed a media rights deal with over $1 billion per year. It’s astounding. Purdue, and the other programs in the conference will benefit greatly from this new deal negotiated by Commissioner Kevin Warren and the rest of the conference staff.

The agreements with CBS/NBC/Fox were announced today and will take effect at the start of the 2023 season. According to reporting from The Athletic along with numerous other outlets both CBS and NBC ponied up $350 million per year for their section of the Big Ten rights. Reports differ as to the total cost of the package with some reporting $7 billion, some reporting “just over $7 billion”, some saying “nearly $8 billion”, and some saying $8 billion. Whatever the official number is, and I’m sure we will find out soon enough, this is an astounding deal that ups the ante for college sports media rights. Over $1 billion split between the 14 current teams would mean $71 million and change per year per school. Once USC and UCLA come into the league (and reports say they will immediately get full shares unlike the additions of Nebraska, Rutgers, and Maryland) will cut the per team payout to $62.5 million per season. Still not to shabby when you consider that right now the current payout per year is approximately $57 million (if you believe the high end of reports.).

Reports also indicate that this deal could actually increase in value if the conference continues to expand. According to Sports Illustrated a source within the conference has said “[w]e are not done expanding.” Should the conference add additional teams *cough* Notre Dame *cough* the cost could go up to perhaps as high as $10 billion over the seven year window. Just absolutely bonkers figures. So, what does this mean for you and I as we venture to watch our beloved Boilermakers? Well, for that we turn to The Athletic’s Nicole Auerbach who provides a helpful breakdown which I’ve summarized below. Be sure though to read her entire piece as she does an excellent job laying everything out.

Fox/FS1

• Will broadcast the Big Ten Football Title Game in odd years.
• Will carry up to 27 regular season football games in 2023 and escalate up to 32 games thereafter.
• Will carry a minimum of 45 regular season men’s basketball games per year.

NBC

• Will broadcast the Big Ten Football Title Game in 2026.
• 16 regular season games in 2023. 15 the following years.
• All NBC games will also stream on Peacock
• NBC will air a Black Friday game.
• Peacock will stream 32 regular season games including 20 conference games in 2023-2024.
• From 2024-2025 Peacock will air 47 games including 32 conference games.
• Peacock will air 30 regular season women’s basketball games including 20 conference games.

CBS

• Will broadcast the Big Ten Football Title Game in 2024 and 2028.
• Will carry 7 Big Ten games in 2023 then full slate in following years.
• Will carry regular season men’s basketball. 11 games in 2023 and 15 thereafter.
• Will carry both men’s and women’s Big Ten basketball tournament championships.
• All football games on CBS are also streaming on Paramount+

BTN

• Will broadcast up to 41 games in 2021 and up to 50 games thereafter.
• Will broadcast a minimum of 126 men’s basketball games per year.
• Will continue to air early rounds of the Big Ten Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments.