College football expansion update: Big Ten facing sudden problems over money and scheduling, per report

It certainly appeared that the Big Ten was the big winner of the latest phase of college football expansion after the conference voted to add USC and UCLA in a bombshell move that shocked the world, a move that allowed the league to sign a historic media deal worth over $1 billion per year over the next seven football seasons.

But now there appears to be some trouble behind the scenes for first-year Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti as he tries to sort out some of the details surrounding that contract in time before the start of the season, according to ESPN college football insider Pete Thamel.

"Discontent" in the Big Ten

Thamel reports that there is "some discontent in the loose ends that Kevin Warren did not tie up before he left," including "some large bills that have surprised some of these schools" relating in particular to details surrounding the NBC deal.

"There's varying sides of how they're going to get ironed out just in terms of where the responsibility lies," Thamel said, adding that there are "numerous dueling tensions there" among Big Ten power brokers.

What are the problems

According to the report, more than $5 million per school, an amount totaling more than $70 million, remains "in flux."

That number includes almost $40 million that the Big Ten now apparently owes to Fox after Warren promised NBC the rights to the league's football championship game without appearing to have the contractual authority to do so.

Then there's the $25 million the Big Ten still owes Fox over lost revenue from the Covid-19 season back in 2020.

Plus, there's a perceived scheduling problem, as the primetime deal with NBC will force the Big Ten to re-think its previous policy of not requiring teams to play after dark in the month of November, something that could change in the future.

Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State have been vocal behind the scenes about their displeasure with that fact, something that athletic departments and even football coaches themselves reportedly said they didn't know was part of the deal.

And which now leaves the Big Ten in the awkward position of having to honor a nine-figure contract for night-time football games potentially without the full support of the league's biggest brands in the sport's most critical month.

"It's a muddled situation and certainly there are multiple people who told us on the record they're not pleased with how things were left," Thamel said.

(ESPN)

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