ESPN pulls out of media rights talks with Big Ten
After a half-decade long marriage, talks between ESPN and the Big Ten for a new rights deal have ceased, thus making way for the CBS and NBC to join Fox as broadcasters of the Big Ten.
The move is set to start with the 2023-24 school year, and will change what times and channels the Big Ten plays as explained by Sports Business Journal:
CBS is expected to carry a football game in the 3:30pm ET window on Saturdays, and NBC would carry one in primetime. NBC’s Peacock streaming service will carry an undetermined number of games per year exclusively. Peacock also will simulcast the games that air on NBC.
The deal that will see the Big Ten comes after ESPN carrying Big Ten football games since 1982, and ABC carrying Big Ten games since 1966.
While there is no direct news in regards to the Pac-12 yet, this may serve as good a sign as any for the conference and their media rights negotiations. With ESPN missing out on the Big Ten, they will surely want other college football programming to fill specific slots which is where conferences such as the Pac-12 and Big 12 come into play.
Pac-12 After Dark could very well end up being the saving grace for the Pac-12.
