What the Big Ten’s seismic move means for college football’s TV future

ESPN College Gameday
By Richard Deitsch
Jul 5, 2022

Michael V. Martin saw the future in 2011. Today, Martin is the president of Florida Gulf Coast University, but 11 years ago, he served as the chancellor of Louisiana State University, an institution and region that loves college football as much as it does jambalaya. During a three-hour meeting of the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics at the Ritz-Carlton in Washington D.C in October 2011., Martin offered a scarily prescient take on the future of major college football.

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“I think we could ultimately end up with two enormous conferences, one called ESPN and one called Fox,” said Martin, as chronicled in this piece by New York Times and now with The Boston Globe. “I’m not exactly sure what we do about it.”

By now you have seen the college football-shattering news that USC and UCLA are leaving the Pac-12 for the Big Ten. Last summer we saw Oklahoma and Texas each voting to accept the SEC’s invitations to join that conference in 2025. We have entered the era of college football consolidation that will conclude with super leagues closer to the NFL than what you knew of college football.

Television money is driving it all. ESPN owns exclusive College Football Playoff rights through 2025-26. They also own the SEC Network and will soon have all of the SEC’s media rights through 2033-34. Fox Sports will be the Big Ten’s main media rightsholder and is the majority owner of the Big Ten Network. As reported by John Ourand of the Sports Business Journal, two senior Fox Sports executives have active roles in the Big Ten’s media rights negotiations as the conference navigates bids from multiple media companies.

Martin was right. There are no bigger forces in college football right now than ESPN and Fox, and this week you saw Martin’s quote go viral as reporters brought it back to the surface.

The Athletic’s college football staff has done a great job examining all facets of this story. With the goal of giving readers insight into the media aspect of the mega-consolidation, I spent some time with The Athletic college football senior writer Andy Staples talking about the seismic move of USC and UCLA heading to the Big Ten and where college football is heading. Here is an edited version of our conversation.


Deitsch: It seems like everything is pointing to two super leagues (the SEC and Big Ten) and then maybe some mini-powers.

Staples: Oh, there’s two superpowers in the game. That’s it. If you’ve not read a book called “The Club,” which details how the Premier League formed in England, it would be very educational for you to read that if you’re a college football fan. Because this is very similar. Now, college football is a little bit further along in its evolution than English soccer was when the Premier League formed. But, basically, it’s the transition of a regionalized mom-and-pop operation that is beloved at the grassroots level into a corporate behemoth backed by media dollars.

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College football’s march toward this began in 1984 when the (U.S.) Supreme Court ruled in favor of the University of Georgia and University of Oklahoma against the NCAA, which had control over everybody’s football TV rights at the time. It’s weird because we’re actually moving back toward a single seller of TV rights, or two sellers of TV rights, which obviously increases the dollar figures. … When the Supreme Court broke that up, everybody started selling their own rights as conferences. That’s how the consolidation began. So conference consolidation and realignment has been going on really since the late ’80s, early ’90s, and there’s been several iterations of it. The major ones are the early ’90s when the SEC added Arkansas and South Carolina, the Big Ten added Penn State, and Florida State joined the ACC. Basically, it became uncool to be an independent. The Big East picked up a lot of the other East Coast independents. You get to the early 2000s with the ACC beginning to raid the Big East because John Swofford (then-commissioner of the ACC) recognized that if they didn’t, the Big East was going to gut them. So they gutted the Big East first.

Then you get to the end of the first decade of the 2000s, Larry Scott becomes the commissioner of the Pac-10 and looks at the landscape and goes, “Oh, I need a massive media footprint because everybody is making cable channels. The Big Ten’s got a successful cable channel, so I need a massive media footprint that I can sell to cable companies. So let’s go get Texas, Texas A&M and Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.” He planned to raid half the Big 12, and it almost worked. The only thing was he’d never negotiated with Texas athletic director DeLoss Dodds before, and did not realize that he was going to have an okey-doke pulled on him. Dodds was playing one side against the other, got a favorable deal from the Big 12, got to create the Longhorn Network, which in turn kept the Big 12 together. But then that started the next round of realignment because Texas A&M and Missouri were like, “Well, this sucks, let’s go to the SEC.” All of this just keeps happening over and over again.

It became very clear when Texas and Oklahoma moved over to the SEC that there are only two super conferences, the SEC and the Big Ten. The question was, will the Big Ten stand pat and let the SEC continue to accumulate more power, or will the Big Ten make a move and be a planet of equal size? They are going to be a planet of equal size. Those two leagues are going to move step for step. They will be the power leagues in college football. Everybody else will be a level below. Now, do they act like the NFL and the AFL did in the 1960s where they are separate entities and their champions play at the end of the year? Or will they act like the NFC and the AFC do now where they eventually merge their business and sell their rights as one? I know ESPN and Fox wouldn’t be looking forward to that because the price goes up if that happens. But it’ll also require the SEC and the Big Ten to agree on things, which historically has been an issue.

Deitsch: That’s a very good primer. Even with two superpowers, media companies will still have interest in the inventory of what is currently the Big 12 and Pac-12. Obviously, not at the levels of the SEC and Big Ten, but it is still live sports inventory. What happens now with a Pac-12 media deal?

Staples: It depends on what happens and who’s left because this looks like USC and UCLA did this under cover of night, which means that Oregon and Washington and Utah probably have not asked the Big Ten, “Hey, would you consider us?” I think they’re probably asking right now. I think the answer might be yes, especially if you take a pair of those and you make them travel partners, or you have like a five-team division out West. You could probably have a mini-conference for all their other sports so you’re not flying volleyball players across the country on a Tuesday night. But we don’t know what they’re going to do.

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We also don’t know if the Big Ten is chasing markets or brands. My guess is they’re chasing brands because that’s what matters now. It’s not peak cable anymore. You’re not looking at market size. There’s a question of do they go South to try to become a national conference or landscape. Conference seems like a small word for this. So would North Carolina, Georgia Tech, Miami make sense for them? Again, there is the ACC grant of rights. Then what does the SEC do? Does the SEC respond in kind to UCLA and USC or do they sit pat and say, OK, now everybody’s got the same number of members? It would seem logical that there’s another move to be made for both parties.

Deitsch: Everyone agrees the Big Ten is looking at getting more than $1 billion in media rights, right?

Staples: Absolutely. The Apple thing is very interesting to me. Clearly, the Big Ten’s been working on this with USC and UCLA and their negotiations with the networks probably had something to do with that. I’m sure Fox has been informed of all this all the way. They are partners in the Big Ten Network.

Deitsch: They’re advisors to the Big Ten Conference, so yes.

Staples: An LSU fan posted a tweet from 2011 where the LSU chancellor at the time said that at some point it’s just going to be two super conferences, FOX and ESPN. That just nails it! I’ve been wondering about this forever: If you’re the Big Ten, do you have to do anything with ESPN? Because I think this is the first time in the recent history of college football that you don’t have to make a deal with ESPN. Before, the thought was, ESPN’s not going to talk about you if you don’t have the games on their air. If they don’t talk about you, then you become less relevant. But linear television is going down the tubes. Shoulder programming barely exists anymore. Nobody cares what anybody says on “College Football Live.” The conversations are generated on podcasts or on social media. So you can generate your own conversation. It doesn’t require that platform anymore.

Deitsch: But it’s valuable in recruiting, no?

Staples: I think they’re changing too.

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Deitsch: So here’s my “but.” But doesn’t a 16-year-old college football fan care about ESPN’s TikTok account or ESPN’s social media accounts?

Staples: They care about whoever has a big TikTok account. Apple’s got a big TikTok account. That’s the part I’m interested in. (The Big Ten) has made it very clear they want to split (game inventory) up, kind of like the NFL does. So Fox is going to get first choice. They’re going to get the bulk of the good inventory. I would assume you do a package with ESPN. But do you split off another two packages now because you’ve just added 24 games? Well, if you bump it up to 28 games, that would be two games a week. Do you slide NBC a package to bookend with Notre Dame? Or do you slide CBS a package to replace the SEC ? Does CBS add a Big Ten game at 3:30 Eastern to replace that SEC game? Do you slide Apple a game? I’m curious to see how you feel about this. Your Apple game is Ohio State at Purdue on Friday night at 8 p.m.

Deitsch: There’s a great case to make, in my opinion, about selling this to CBS. They’ll pay, and it’s a great college football window.

Staples: And you don’t even have to give them anywhere near the best game.

Deitsch: CBS has already proven they can help build a college football brand. They’re going to give you a quality production. They’re going to assign great announcers, all that stuff. You’re getting what your conference wants, which is money and a high-end product. Apple and Amazon are the most interesting ones to me. We’ve watched Apple’s baseball product, which is really just a testing grounds right now. Few are watching. The MLS deal is their big investment.

Staples: And there is math wizardry there where the MLS has to cover production costs. So they could say we got this much from Apple when you really didn’t.

USC and UCLA’s move to the Big Ten moves college football closer to a two-superconference system, with ESPN and Fox driving it all behind the scenes. (Richard Mackson / USA Today)

Deitsch: So the question I have, and I don’t really know the answer: How deep a passion will there be for a game like Michigan-Purdue or Ohio State-Indiana? Will an Ohio State fan pay just to have access to that kind of game?

Staples: This won’t be the MLS deal. If Apple or Amazon gets that deal, they’re paying the production cost. Let me put it this way: If you have Ohio State one week, Michigan the next week, Michigan State the next week, Penn State the next week, even if they’re on the road, of course people are going to buy that.

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Deitsch: Even if these games are blowouts?

Staples: But what if it’s not?

Deitsch: So what you are saying is what if it’s Appalachian State-Michigan in 2007?

Staples: Funny you should bring up that game. Do you know why that game is important in media history? It was the first game in Big Ten Network history. I remember wanting to call and scream at my cable company. How can I not see this? Find a way to let me see this!

Deitsch: How important will it be for the Big Ten to have high-profile games on a linear network?

Staples: I still think they understand that the bulk of their fans, the bulk of people, still want to watch it in a linear fashion. Over the air, especially. But I will say my 75-year-old mother-in-law, everything she watches is streaming. She’s got YouTube TV, she’s got Netflix, she’s got Amazon Prime, she’s got Starz, all on streaming. She knows how to use the apps on her TV. The learning curve on that is not steep.

Deitsch: Crystal-ball this. ESPN will always have a college football footprint. That said, you’ve been around long enough to know that when ESPN doesn’t have a property, say back in the day with the NHL, they bury it. If ESPN for some reason isn’t part of the Big Ten — and I don’t believe that will be the case, but let’s sort of play it out. Do you anticipate ESPN covering the Big Ten less if they don’t own rights. Or is it so big, so important, that you can’t?

Staples: You can’t not cover Ohio State-Michigan. You can’t not cover USC. It’s too big. That’s why I keep saying: They don’t need ESPN anymore.

Deitsch: One more quick topic: It’s very clear Urban Meyer is heading back to Fox to do “Big Noon Kickoff.” Clearly, the Ohio State fan base will welcome him back. Is there any blowback from non-Ohio State fans?

Staples: Remember, they are probably going out on the road every week. The signs are going to be amazing! I’m not sure how long it will last for them on the road, to be honest with you, in non-Columbus cities. Like, he will be chanted at and mocked mercilessly and the signs are going to be filthy.

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Deitsch: You don’t think they play into that? You don’t think he wrestling-heels it up a little bit?

Staples: No, he doesn’t have that in him. That would require a level of self-awareness that does not exist.


The Ink Report

1. In less than a decade of working full-time in the United States, NBC Sports Premier League host Rebecca Lowe has vaulted to the top of American sports television studio hosts thanks to her intellect and preparation. Soccer fans are demanding, harsh critics, and Lowe has won the majority over by knowing her subject matter cold and leading her colleagues on intellectually sound discussions.

The Athletic reported on Sunday that Lowe will continue in her role as the lead studio host for NBC Sports’ Premier League coverage. Her contract was up this summer, but there is an agreement in place for Lowe to continue to serve as the host of NBC’s Premier League pre-and post-match shows. Lowe had another significant offer from a broadcaster that airs global soccer but ultimately she and NBC found a deal that worked for both sides. She has been with NBC since it acquired the rights to the property in 2013. Her new contract will track in years with NBC Sports’ recent deal with the Premier League, a six-year deal reached last November that will run from the start of the 2022-23 season until the end of the 2027-28 campaign.

NBC’s Premier League viewers will have a different sound on their game broadcasts this August as Peter Drury was brought in to replace Arlo White as the lead announcer for the package. White had served as the lead play-by-play voice for NBC Sports’ Premier League coverage since the network acquired the U.S. media rights. White is now the lead broadcaster for the LIV Golf International Series. Drury served on commentary this season for CBS Sports’ coverage of the Champions League. He had a long run with ITV Sport as their No. 2 soccer commentator and has recently worked for Amazon Prime Video for its Premier League coverage in the UK as well as BT.

2. Episode 220 of the Sports Media Podcast features Monica McNutt, a host, analyst, and reporter for ESPN and MSG Networks with a specialty in basketball. In this podcast, McNutt discusses the challenges of live sports television; the differences in covering the NBA and WNBA; the preparation for being a draft interviewer; working multiple jobs as a 20-something in sports media and how to react if you get a break; LaChina Robinson and others as mentors; not changing her look or her personality when she landed on national television; representation in the space; being recognized as an opinionist and what that means; Draymond Green and the new media; her basketball career at Georgetown and playing against Brittney Griner and Maya Moore, and more.

You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, and more.

3. ESPN announced its lineup of commentators, studio hosts, analysts, and a reporter, for its upcoming telecast of the UEFA Women’s European Football Championship 2022 (July 6 to 31).

3a. NBC Sports’ cycling play-by-play caller Phil Liggett is covering his 50th Tour de France — and the 45th time he is doing it on television — as part of NBC, Peacock and the USA Network’s live coverage of the Tour. The production schedule is here.

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3b. Meredith Shiner, a former national political reporter whose work appeared in Politico, Roll Call, Congressional Quarterly, The Economist among other publications, will be the host and writer of a new podcast on the intersection of Jews and sports. Shiner wrote a fantastic piece on the cringe-inducing horror show that is the White House Correspondents Dinner.

3c. Episode 218 of the Sports Media Podcast features ESPN investigative reporter and senior writer T.J. Quinn, In this podcast, Quinn discusses his reporting on WNBA star Brittney Griner being detained in Russia; where the Griner criminal trial stands right now; Griner facing 10 years in prison if convicted on charges of large-scale transportation of drugs; the strategy of the Griner camp on promoting her story; how the Department of State must manage a potential prisoner swap; how media coverage in the U.S. might be different if Griner was male and played a major male sport; whether Russia is off the table forever as a destination for U.S. athletes; which experts can help educate you on Griner’s case; activism in the WNBA and much more.

4. Sports pieces of note:

The Athletic’s college football staff answered questions on what’s next for college football realignment.

• ‘A League of Their Own’ turns 30: Catching up with mighty Marla Hooch. By Daniel Brown of The Athletic.

ESPN’s Don Van Natta Jr. profiled MLB commissioner Rob Manfred.

Chris Vannini of The Athletic on the role of Fox and ESPN in college football realignment.

• The Fight Over Abortion Is Coming to Sports, but the Strategy Is Shifting. By Louise Radnofsky of The Wall Street Journal.

• How did USC and UCLA join the Big Ten so quickly? Inside a game-changing shift in CFB. By Nicole Auerbach and Matt Fortuna of The Athletic.

• Moral failings are in golf’s DNA. LIV is only the latest example. By Kevin Blackistone of The Washington Post.

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Via John Canzano: Pac-12 gut punch comes with a cost.

• Russian NHL stars traveled home; will they all be back? ‘It’s a big unknown.’ By Michael Russo and Dan Robson of The Athletic.

• It’s Bobby Bonilla Day, When The Retired Mets Star Gets Paid $1,193,248.20. By Joseph Pisani and Charles Forelle of The Wall Street Journal.

• A’s minor-league broadcasters realizing major-league dreams. By Melissa Lockard of The Athletic.

The New Yorker’s Isaac Chotiner interviews NFL writer Jenny Vrentas.

• In the Atlantic League, a 24-year-old baseball player knows what she wants. By Chelsea Janes of The Washington Post.

• BT Sport, Amazon, BBC and the grab for Champions League football. By Matt Slater of The Athletic.

Jon Wilner has done a great job covering USC and UCLA’s jump to the Big Ten.

• This is the story of how the children of a WWE Hall of Famer, Rocky Johnson, found one another and rediscovered family. By Greg Oliver for Sports Illustrated.

Non-sports pieces of note:

• “The gun debate would change in an instant if Americans witnessed the horrors that trauma surgeons confront every day.” This piece was written by Jason Fagone in 2017. It has never left me. Read it.

• He was acting strangely. Then he vanished into the Virginia wilderness. By Lizzie Johnson of The Washington Post.

• How the Roe v. Wade ruling evolved: A behind-the-scenes visual tour. By James D. Robenalt of The Washington Post.

• Great stuff in Bloomberg’s Heist Issue.

• Illegal drugs are being targeted to kids online, and parents are fighting back. By Omar Mosleh of The Toronto Star.

• Former Nazi guard, 101, jailed for aiding murder. By Kirsten Grieshaber of The Associated Press.

• Sick to Our Stomachs. By Natasha Boyd of The Drift.

• LGBTQ clubs were havens for students. Now they’re under attack. By Hannah Natanson of The Washington Post.

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• In the waning days of the Cold War, Rainer Sonntag helped fuel of Neo-Nazi movement that still plagues Germany today. By Leigh Baldwin and Sean Williams for The Atavist.

• When COVID-19 strikes again and again. By Laura Ungar of The Associated Press.

• They tracked down their stolen cars. But the police didn’t show up. By Kevin Donovan of The Toronto Star.

• Nearly every American has a foreboding the country they love is losing its way. By David Ignatius of The Washington Post.

• Worried About Personal Data Leaks? Here’s How to Lock Down Your Phone. By Nicole Nguyen of The Wall Street Journal.

(Top photo: Patrick Gorski / USA Today)

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Richard Deitsch

Richard Deitsch is a media reporter for The Athletic. He previously worked for 20 years for Sports Illustrated, where he covered seven Olympic Games, multiple NCAA championships and U.S. Open tennis. Richard also hosts a weekly sports media podcast. Follow Richard on Twitter @richarddeitsch