Television Deal: It's the richest in the land and allows Jim Delany to swim in it or ski down the piles of it. Through 2016, the TV deal is worth $3.8 billion with the B1G Network generating $2.8 of that and ESPN paying for another $1 billion to televise Saturday football and basketball throughout the course of the season.
On top of that, the B1G has a TV deal with CBS through 2016-17 that broadcasts 24 appearances by B1G teams in basketball, including 3 wildcard weekends of B1G hoops and the rights to the semi-finals and finals of the B1G tournament. I'm not sure on the financial terms but we get the idea on additional exposure.
Just to cover their bases, the B1G negotiated a deal with FOX to televise the B1G Football Championship game.
The scary thing about the money we're talking about is the position the B1G has put themselves in following 2016-17 basketball. All their primary TV rights will be available for everything not B1G network related that I listed above. Currently, schools are receiving close to 422 million per year with the various TV deals.
Sports Illustrated's Pete Thamel wrote this earlier today:
- Maryland will receive $100 million more in total conference revenue by joining the B1G and leaving the ACC.
- In 2017, Maryland would have received approx. $20 million in league revenue from TV by staying in the ACC. Switching to the B1G, that figure jumps to $43 million.
Get it? That's $5 million more per school than the SEC. Think there aren't other Universities drooling?
B1G and Expansion History: In 1949, the B1G added Michigan State and did nothing until 1990 when the league Presidents voted to expand despite some opposition from its coaches. The choice was Penn State who had been trying to create an Eastern football league (We'll explore this as we dissect the disastrous decisions of the Big East.). Despite its incredible pedigree, there was staunch opposition to adding Penn State as the 11th member. I came across this from an article in the Chicago Tribune written on June 5th, 1990 by Ed Sherman:
The opponents have concerns about Penn State`s inaccessible location in the central Pennsylvania mountains. They worry about the additional expense and missed class time for their student athletes.
If the athletic directors and faculty representatives had been consulted from the beginning, which they weren`t, Bay said the Big 10 still would be at 10 schools.
``Penn State wouldn`t have been a member of the league,`` Bay said. ``I will always be extremely disappointed in the process. The process that developed last December made today`s decision inevitable.
I hate to use LOL, but LOL at all of that. It should also be noted Jim Delany announced in that article the B1G would be changing its name as well.
There was talk soon after of adding a 12th member but a moratorium on expansion was imposed but by 1993, the league had explored adding Kansas, Missouri, Rutgers, Syracuse or Pittsburgh. Despite this and the success of leagues with 12 members and championship games throughout the next 15 years or so, the B1G sat at 11 and did just fine.
In December of 2009, Jim Delany and the B1G announced they would be adding a 12th team. Speculation was rampant. The afforementioned schools topped the list along with surprising names like Nebraska, Maryland, Georgia Tech and even Texas. It seemed far reaching and incredibly unlikely any of those schools would break from georgraphy and traditional rivals.
In June of 2010, it was announced Nebraska had been added as a 12th member. And in November of 2012, Rutgers and Maryland turned the B1G into something else. Unlikely had become reality.
What hath expansion wrought: If we think back to the addition of Penn State, we need to remember what they were in 1990. They had won 2 mythical national championships in the 80s and were perennial contenders as an independent. There was legitimate concern they'd run roughshod over the conference. Well, in 1993, the team went 6-2 in conference. Here's a snapshot of what B1G members thought from the Altoona Mirror, January 24, 2012:
Still, it took time. The first year or two, there was some mistrust and downright enmity between Penn State and the existing members.
Michigan, then the reigning bully in the Big Ten, beat the Nittany Lions 21-13 on Oct. 16, 1993, for their first conference loss. The Wolverines didn't hide their feelings.
"We wanted to welcome Penn State to the Big Ten in a Big Ten fashion, and I think we did that today," center Marc Milia said.
They resented all the attention Penn State was getting in its first season in the Big Ten.
"You just have to pay your dues. Just like a freshman, you can't come in bragging and boasting," said running back Tyrone Wheatley, who rushed for 192 yards in the victory.
The fears were increased in 1994 when Penn State went 8-0 in conference and finished the year by thrashing Oregon in the Rose Bowl and finishing #2 behind Nebraska. But a funny thing happened. While Penn State put national title like teams on the field in 1997 and 98, they didn't play in another Rose Bowl until 2008. Now part of that could have been the decrease in scholarships across the board nationally or decline of JoePa but in the end, the B1G made out like a bandit, adding a national power and brand, notwithstanding recent developments.
The addition of Nebraska in 2011 was similar except this brand of Nebraska wasn't feared but still brought the same national brand cache. A passionate fan base and a national following.
Maryland and Rutgers bring little to nothing to the table as athetic departments. Rutgers is the best of a disatrous Big East and Maryland football, a power in the 1950s has moments of fleeting success but nothing sustained. What Maryland brings unlike the 4 newest brethren is an up-and-coming basketball team but as was noted by basketball people earlier like Fran Fraschilla, one wonders if this the challenge Mark Turgeon was imagining when he took the job. Whatever the case, they are Final 4 contenders by next season. They also have recent success, 2 Final Fours and a National title. They can sell history and playing an Indiana.
I have little doubt expansion is done. Penn State was a prestige grab and Nebraska filled the 12th spot. These two latest editions are merely money grabs and a pawn in TV negotiations, albeit 2 of the best to have. The B1G won't think small fish should they move to 16. It won't be a Cincinnati or Louisville. They could stay in the midwest and head off the SEC by exploring Kansas and they'll certainly be intrigued by a Georgia Tech. With a new TV deal on the horizon, the B1G holds all the chips and the Big 12 and ACC should be very concerned and have contingency plans.
Jim Delany is the Death Star and there ain't no thermal exhaust port
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