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SBJ Media: Big Ten, networks meet on new deals

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HR Heisman
Sep 30, 2001
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By John Ourand
June 6, 2022

Big Ten update: Meetings happening this week​

The Big Ten and Fox Sports have meetings set up all this week with at least six media and tech companies looking to pick up the college conference’s rights, sources tell me. Fox already has a deal in place to remain the conference’s biggest media partner, though the size of that package still hasn’t been determined as the conference figures out who its other media partners will be.

Currently, Amazon, CBS, ESPN and NBC are jockeying for the rest of the package, which could be sold to one, two or three other bidders. Execs from Warner Bros. Discovery and Apple will meet with the conference this week, too. But several sources say that talks with these two companies have not progressed, and they are considered dark horse candidates at best.

When all is said and done, the Big Ten is poised to become the first college conference to eclipse the $1 billion mark for media rights annually. Negotiations are expected to continue through this month; a final deal could come in late summer.

The point of this week’s meetings is to come up with the specific packages the networks want and the price they will pay. So far, CBS has been aggressive about getting a game for its late Saturday afternoon window, and NBC has shown interest in a Saturday night primetime window for Big Ten football. ESPN has made clear its desire to keep Big Ten games on its channels, too. The wild card is Amazon, which has made a strong push to bring the conference’s rights to Prime.

Fox Sports and the Big Ten are co-managing the rights. BTN, which is majority owned by Fox, controls the conference’s media rights and has been negotiating with media companies looking to pick them up.
 
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Bezos isn't getting my money.
They start putting games on that crap that'll drive me from college football way faster than the nil nonsense
OIP.TsoX3COJsvqcAHMH7A_DiAHaIp
 
I’d be A okay with games on Prime. Don’t like it?????! Then go be a fan of a Big 12 team.
 
Back to topic. A Fox Big Noon, CBS 3:30 and NBC primetime B1G lineup, along with all the other games on BTN and FS1, would be pretty f*cking cool.
 
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Reactions: InsaneHawkJJP
It would interesting to see which game each week gets on which network and what games are second level and on the B1G network.
 
Is CBS abandoning the traditional SEC 3:30 Sat slot?
Where does SEC land? ESPN?
 
Is CBS abandoning the traditional SEC 3:30 Sat slot?
Where does SEC land? ESPN?
SEC signed a 10-year deal with ESPN. CBS very likely will want to fill that afternoon slot with a B1G game, all depends on how much they're willing to $tep up.
 
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