Big Ten Signs $7 Billion Media Deal, UCLA Included Amid Roadblocks
The Big Ten announced a brand new media megadeal with CBS, FOX and NBC on Thursday, and the Bruins will officially earn a piece of that pie.
UCLA has been facing pushback from California Governor Gavin Newsom and the University of California Regents ever since the school's move from the Pac-12 to the Big Ten was announced at the end of June. Wednesday marked a key date in its own right, with the Regents holding a meeting in Westwood that was centered around the school explaining its decision publicly.
For as many questions that were raised about student-athlete welfare, the financial impact on UC Berkeley and more, those haven't appeared to get in the way of the move.
When the Big Ten revealed the details of its upcoming media rights deal less than 24 hours after the Regents meeting, both USC and UCLA were included as key players in the statement. The deal, which is the largest in the history of college athletics, will reportedly be worth $7 to $8 billion across seven years starting July 1, 2023.
UCLA and USC will not be joining the conference until 2024, but they will be earning an even share of the conference revenue the moment they arrive. Payouts are expected to approach $100 million per school annually.
The agreement the Big Ten came to with CBS, FOX and NBC is a departure from the ESPN-exclusive deal the SEC recently agreed to. Big Ten content will now air on CBS, FOX, FS1, NBC, NBCUniversal's streaming service Peacock, Big Ten Network and elsewhere, spreading the conference's reach far and wide throughout the digital landscape.
The Big Ten Football Championship Game will be played on FOX in 2023, 2025, 2027 and 2029, CBS in 2024 and 2028 and NBC in 2026.
The Action Network's Brett McMurphy also reported that there are escalators in the deal that could bump the final figure up to as much as $10 billion, building in potential growth to match additional expansion in the coming years.
All the while, the Pac-12 is in the midst of its own negotiations with media conglomerates.
In the UC Regents meeting Thursday, it was estimated that USC took 30% of the conference's media value away when they left, and UCLA robbed them of an additional 10%. Before accounting for the lost revenue due to UCLA's departure, USC's alone was said to dock each remaining school's revenue by $9.8 million annually.
Instead of hanging around in a conference losing ground and money, UCLA made its argument to the Regents on Thursday that they were doing what was in the best interest of the university and its student-athletes by taking the bigger paycheck and ascending to a grander stage.
The announcement of the Big Ten's media deal Thursday seemed to affirm that stance, and the Regents – who have been widely accused of not knowing much about the college athletics landscape – have now been presented with the concrete dollars and cents to back it up.
The following statements were released by the Big Ten on Thursday morning:
“The Big Ten Conference media rights agreements are more than just dollars and deals. They are a mechanism to provide stability and maximum exposure for our student-athletes, member institutions and partners during these uncertain times in collegiate athletics,” Big Ten Conference Commissioner Kevin Warren said. “We are very grateful to our world-class media partners for recognizing the strength of the Big Ten Conference brand and providing the incredible resources we need for our student-athletes to compete at the very highest levels, and to achieve their academic and athletics goals.”
“The Big Ten has been a valued partner for more than three decades and we are thrilled to expand that relationship by adding Big Ten football to our portfolio of marquee properties,” said Sean McManus, Chairman, CBS Sports. “The combination of CBS Sports’ proven record in elevating college conferences to new heights, our standard of excellence and the strength and reach of Paramount Global’s linear and digital platforms, will create a powerful showcase for the Big Ten and its student-athletes. Together with Kevin Warren and the team at the Big Ten, we look forward to growing the conference to the highest of levels, reaching the widest audience.”
“We are proud to expand upon our long-standing partnership with the Big Ten Conference and further bolster our position as the premier rights holder of the conference,” said FOX Sports Chief Executive Officer and Executive Producer, Eric Shanks. “Commissioner Warren’s leadership and vision have resulted in the growth and recent market expansion of the Big Ten Conference. In an ever-evolving landscape, the Big Ten remains the most storied collegiate athletic conference in the country.”
“We are incredibly excited to be partnering with Kevin Warren and the Big Ten Conference on this robust package of sports,” said Pete Bevacqua, Chairman, NBC Sports. “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 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.”
“The new rights agreements are an incredible achievement for our entire conference and a true testament of what can be accomplished with teamwork,” stated Commissioner Warren. “I am incredibly grateful for collaborative efforts and hard work of our conference staff, specifically Laura Anderson, Anil Gollahalli, Kerry Kenny and Adam Neuman, our presidents and chancellors, athletics directors, coaches, student-athletes, and our partners at CBS, NBC and FOX Sports for solidifying unprecedented Big Ten access across transformative media companies for our fans to tune-in and follow the Big Ten content they love.”
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