The Big Ten Conference getting close to a new TV deal could mean good news for the Pac-12 and Big 12.
ESPN will reportedly not broadcast the conference’s games, Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand reported Tuesday morning.
Ourand had reported on Monday that it would be happening “barring a last-minute change of direction in the Big Ten’s media rights negotiations.”
ESPN not ending up with any of the Big Ten’s rights ends a 40-year partnership between the conference and the network.
Fox has locked up the Big Ten’s marquee package again, Ourand reported Monday. CBS, which would have no Power Five conference TV rights after its SEC deal expires at the end of the 2023 season, and NBC, which only broadcasts Notre Dame football, “have emerged as the clear front-runners to pick up Big Ten rights alongside Fox Sports.”
The Big Ten media rights deal would be worth over $1 billion annually, per Ourand.
Starting in 2024, Fox would have the first pick to broadcast the best Big Ten game of the week at 10 a.m. MT. CBS would broadcast an afternoon game and NBC would broadcast a prime-time game, according to the New York Post’s Andrew Marchand.
Ourand was told that “agreements could be reached by the end of this week or push into next.”
Though Fox broadcast the marquee game each week during the last contract, ESPN still televised Big Ten games, including on “Saturday Night Football” in prime time on ABC.
ESPN inked a $3 billion deal with the SEC for the exclusive rights to air its games starting in 2024. Previously, the SEC’s best games of the week were broadcast on CBS. ESPN also has a broadcast deal with the ACC through 2036.
Ourand wrote Monday that if indeed ESPN did not end up with the Big Ten’s rights, “look for the company to be especially aggressive in trying to secure Big 12 and Pac-12 rights, as well as renewing its deals with the NCAA Championships and College Football Playoff.”
The news couldn’t come at a more perfect time for the Pac-12, which was wounded by USC and UCLA — and with it the Los Angeles TV market — leaving right before it negotiated a new TV deal, as the conference could particularly benefit from the hole the loss of the Big Ten would leave at ESPN.
The Pac-12 is currently in negotiations with ESPN and Fox for its next media rights deal. The Pac-12’s current TV deal, which sees the conference’s games be broadcast by ESPN and Fox, ends after the 2023 football season.
ESPN also broadcasts the Pac-12 football championship game.
“If these (Big Ten) deals go through, then next up will be the Pac-12, which ESPN likes because of its late night windows,” Marchand wrote.
“The Pac-12 can offer ESPN 26 late windows (Friday and Saturday for 13 weeks), most of them competition-free. I suspect both nights will play a central role in negotiations and possible deal. Price point might depend on the pick selections,” Jon Wilner of The Mercury News wrote.
Similarly, ESPN’s lack of Big Ten inventory could also provide leverage for the Big 12 when it negotiates its next TV contract. Fox and ESPN share the rights to the conference’s games currently, with ESPN broadcasting the Big 12 championship game. The Big 12’s TV contract is up after the 2024 football season.