The Big Ten has finalized a new 7-year, $7 billion deal that will begin next summer and run through the end of the 2029-30 athletic calendar year. When USC and UCLA join the conference, this historic agreement will pay each school anywhere from $80 to $100 million a season. Not only does this contract change how the average fan watches college football, but it also has massive ramifications for the Big 12 and the rest of the sport.
The initial headline in this deal is that FOX, CBS, and NBC will broadcast Big Ten games, in addition to FS1, NBC Sports, and Peacock, ending the conference’s long-standing relationship with ESPN. These providers will also structure Saturday slates to mirror how the NFL broadcasts games on Sunday.
FOX will have the noon kickoff position, while CBS will reclaim their 3:30 time slot but move from the Southeastern Conference to the Big Ten. Finally, NBC will expand its role from only broadcasting Notre Dame home games and take the 8:00 p.m. primetime kickoff spot. While this structure has worked for the NFL, fans and networks will soon discover how this new format will translate to the Big Ten in 2023. However, this deal has far-reaching effects beyond how college football fans watch the game.
All attention now turns to the Pac-12 as they attempt to negotiate their television deal. Unfortunately for the conference, initial reports are not promising. According to Jason Scheer, writer of Wildcat Authority for 247Sports, ESPN’s initial offer would give each school 24.5 million a season, a long way from what Big Ten schools are now receiving.
Scheer describes this initial offer on 365 Sports, “It’s Brutal. It’s not even close to being good enough. I would say if the Pac 12 wants to keep schools involved, it’s got to be closer to the lower thirties as a starting point.”
One team to watch closely throughout their negotiation process is Arizona. When asked if Arizona was ready to move to the Big 12 if the money becomes an issue further into negotiations, Scheer said, “I believe so. I believe if Arizona doesn’t get a number that it likes, and Brett Yormark comes in there (negotiations) with FOX and says you’re going to make this amount of money, and it’s a pretty decent difference, I think Arizona’s ready.”
Scheer goes on to explain that a $2 million difference per year might not be enough, but if the difference is $5 million to $7 million a year, he believes the Wildcats would make the jump if invited to join the Big 12.
The Big Ten deal also leaves a massive whole of live programming for ESPN. The lack of college football on the network will likely increase the price when ESPN begins negotiations with the Big 12. Especially if FOX decides they want to invest more capital into the college football market, this could cause a bidding war between the two broadcasting giants. Although the Pac-12 will negotiate a contract sooner rather than later, with their current grant of rights expiring in 2024, the Big 12 seems to be in a more stable position with their own television negotiations looming. With ESPN’s lack of programming and the uncertainty surrounding the Pac-12, the Big Ten’s historic television contract only helps the Big 12 in the long run.
