big 10 network 2010

all big 10 schools get about $7 million/yr from the big 10 tv network.

the big 10 tv network is really what is driving this 'bigger is better' issue currently in vogue in major college athletics.

it seems, to me, a little counterintuitive, because you are dividing the pie among more teams.

the big 10 network charges 88 cents per household per month for cable operators in big 10 states and only a nickle per household outside the big 10 states footprint.

that 88 cents per is the 3rd highest on basic cable. espn gets 3 bucks per, tnt(what a ripoff) gets

$1.26, and then comes the big 10 network.

when they first rolled it out a few years ago, they tried for $1.10 and that wouldnt fly.

i couldnt find what the dish network deal is, but the big 10 owns 51%, fox cable network owns 49%(direct tv and newscorp are part of this. they were on direct tv right away after starting, and direct was marketting it.

this is for all big 10 sports, and athletic events that cant be sold elsewhere. basketball games have been very successful, because big 10 basketball fans get to see a lot of really goood games.

football, in all of college sports, is, surprise, surprise, the big revenue producer when it comes to media.

the 10 network will telecast nearly 40 games this year(the ones the commercial networks dont want), and they are, mostly, uninteresting games. they get the crumbs after abc, espn, etc. get done picking.

there is one big 10 deal with abc-espn, and the money will be divided into 12 equal amounts amongst the member schools, roughly the same amounts from abs-espn and big 10 net, roughly $7 milolion per school--total, about $14 MILLION, which is pretty darn good for telecasting 'amateur' athletes.

the other conferences have their own networks, keeping an eye on the big 10 model, saying 'me, too.' they are all thinking that they can do a lot with their programming, and, in some cases, they are right. big east football certainly cant command big money, no matter what marketting tricks they connive. big east basketball is doing very well with their syndication.

why is bigger better here? if you have depth and quality in your schedule, you have something good to put on your sports network.

the big 10 network does best when ohio state is on, and michigan, and surprisingly, penn state.

ohio state has a great large hardcore following who will watch, whenever yhry are on, whomever they play. this weekend, when ohio plays at ohio state, they are going to get great ratings.

what the conference is doing, by adding nebraska, is bringing another name into the fold.

if the 2 best games are on the broadcast network, you might still get nebraska-iowa or nebraska-wisconsin. they are starting to get some really good games, which will likely get them back up to their intended $1.10 per household, monthly.

about the holy ncaa. that is VOLUNTARY membership, so is the ncaa riding herd on the membership? how can they?

the biggest schools have a voting majority in the ncaa. they do just enough to skirt the anti-trust laws, but what you are looking at, they have staged a championship game, they have called other games 'big payout' games, bcs bowls that are really meaningless. the ncaa is just a conduit for distributing the bcs bowl money. do they control it? not really. do they enforce the rules? they do, but just a little, but they arent calling the shots.

the only way the ncaa would get any control would be to stage their own championship playoff, and, wedge the bowls loose.

during the last, recent realignment, everyone thought that texas was going to change conferences. texas decided to stay independent, kinf of. their deal with the big 12 conference, is that texas, oklahoma, and, to a lesser extent, a7m, are going to keep disproportionate share of the tv.

texas will push close to $20 million of the big 12 conference tv revenue. a&m was in a great bargaining spot. had texas bolted, a&m was headed straight to the sec, which would have kicked out arkansas, which would have moved to the acc.

nebraska is a great edition to the big 10, a storied football power stretching the league's footprint with natural rivalries like iowa, wisconsin, and minnesota. this was a great big ten move. humorously, nebraska always chafed at howtexas got special treatment, and money in the big 12. welcome to the big ten, nebraska. meet ohio state and michigan.

my question is, how long will it be before osu, penn state, and michigan start DEMANDING much bigger pieces of the big 10 pie.