Big Ten Snags Record $7.5 Billion TV Rights Deal Across Fox, CBS and NBC

There’s a BIG deal happening in the college sports landscape. The Big Ten Conference finalized a massive set of media rights deals worth an estimated $7.5 billion—around $1 billion annually—across Fox, CBS and NBC, beginning in 2023. The agreement is the richest ever in college football, reminiscent of an NFL-style agreement that spreads the games across three broadcast networks on Saturdays. For the first time in 40 years, ESPN will not broadcast home Big Ten football and basketball games. Instead, Fox has a noon Big Ten Saturday college football game, CBS snagged the 3:30 p.m. slot and NBC has the primetime game. The Big Ten, along with the SEC, is one of the most-watched conferences in college football and now the most valuable. The conference already included 14 universities, such as powerhouses Ohio State and Michigan. It also recently announced plans to add UCLA and Southern California in 2024, expanding the conference’s reach from primarily the Midwest. That means the Big Ten will have a presence in the top three media markets (Chicago, New York and Los Angeles). NBCUniversal’s World Cup Ad Inventory Nearly Sold Out 100 Days Before Kickoff Other Big Ten sports, including men’s and women’s basketball, will be spread across Fox (and FS1), CBS and NBC. The Big Ten Network (61% owned by Fox) and NBCUniversal’s streaming service Peacock will also broadcast games. Fox was the primary rights holder for the conference’s previous deal and maintained football’s premier package of games. Fox Sports also added football and men’s basketball games to the schedule. As part of the new deal, Fox will have 24 to 27 games in 2023, jumping to 30 to 32 games in the following years. Fox will also have four Big Ten football title games (2023, 2025, 2027 and 2029). CBS will have the championship in 2024 and 2028, and NBC will broadcast live from Indianapolis in 2026. Regarding basketball, Fox will broadcast more than 200 games across its family of networks. CBS will televise 9 to 11 men’s basketball games in 2023-24, upping to 15 games in the remaining years. CBS also has the men’s and women’s championship games and the men’s semi-finals. Paramount+ will also stream every CBS football and basketball broadcast. NBC is sticking only to football, but Peacock is getting into the game. The streaming service will be the exclusive home of eight Big Ten football games each season, in addition to NBC’s exclusive Saturday night rights. That’s the first time Big Ten Football will have a dedicated weekly primetime game on a national broadcast network. “We are incredibly excited to be partnering with Kevin Warren and the Big Ten Conference on this robust package of sports,” Pete Bevacqua, chairman, NBC Sports, said in a statement. “With Big Ten Saturday Night and Sunday Night Football headlining each fall weekend in primetime on NBC and Peacock, along with our historic Notre Dame Football partnership, NBC Sports will be the home of the premier games in college football and the NFL. In addition, with the rights to a wide range of Big Ten events, Peacock and NBC Sports will be a year-round destination for the best in college sports.” Peacock will also have as many as 47 regular-season men’s basketball games (32 conference and 15 non-conference), as well as 30 regular-season women’s basketball games. Major deals for major conferences The Big Ten is the latest sports property to land a massive rights deal. Last year, the NFL struck a deal with CBS, Fox, NBC, ESPN/ABC and Amazon Prime Video worth approximately $10 billion annually. The college conference also reportedly had talks with Amazon. Major League Soccer and Apple also recently struck an exclusive 10-year deal worth $250 million per year, and the NHL partnered with Turner Sports and Disney in a seven-year deal. Most similar to the Big 10, the SEC struck a 10-year deal with Disney, worth around $300 million annually. The deal, a significant jump from the $55 million per year the conference got from CBS, begins in 2024.