Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany yesterday at the conference's spring meetings "devoted plenty of time" on the issue of its new media deal, as the Big Ten's 10-year deal with ESPN worth $1B is "set to expire next spring," according to Matt Charboneau of the DETROIT NEWS. SportsBusiness Journal last month reported the Big Ten and Fox "have agreed on a deal" that would pay the conference $250M annually for the first six years. Delany: "We've spent three, four years preparing for that, so obviously we're prepared. We're cohesive in our approach. The athletic directors and presidents have been intimately involved in the development of what we're trying to achieve." The "biggest change -- other than the large influx of cash -- is the fact the Big Ten would be moving away from ESPN." Most ADs "said little about whether that potential break with ESPN would be good or bad for the conference." Northwestern AD Jim Phillips said ESPN has "been wonderful partners." Phillips: "But we're at a different place and they're at a different place in 2016 than we were in the last round. That doesn't mean we can't get to the altar together and get married again. But, you know, we're at the dating stage right now." Delany: "We're interested in having great partners that have great platforms that are interested in marketing and promotion. The market will decide what happens. ESPN has been a great partner, as CBS has, as BTN has, as Fox has. It's a new day" (DETROIT NEWS, 5/19).
COY POND: In Omaha, Lee Barfknecht writes no one is "saying the Big Ten won't cut another deal with ESPN, but the fact that the league is publicly addressing the chance it won't tells you the Big Ten likes the cards it holds." Delany "played coy on the length of any new deals, or whether a big pot of money for a long time now outweighs a shorter-term deal that would give flexibility to invest in yet-to-be invented technologies" (OMAHA WORLD-HERALD, 5/19). In Chicago, Teddy Greenstein wonders if the Big Ten would "take less money to stick with the behemoth that is ESPN." Greenstein: "If not, how does that affect exposure? And coverage of the league on 'GameDay' and 'SportsCenter'?" Industry sources will "tell you the Big Ten is set to end the decades-long relationship." But others "believe Delany remains determined to keep ESPN in the fold, suggesting that ESPN and Fox annually alternate broadcasting the Big Ten football championship game and the Ohio State-Michigan game, which last year was the most-watched noon game in 18 years (10.8 million viewers)" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 5/19). In Iowa, Scott Dochterman notes the Big Ten and ESPN have "enjoyed a relationship for 25-plus years." Big Ten teams "appeared in three of the four most-watched regular-season college football games" in '15, including top-viewed Michigan State-Ohio State (Cedar Rapids GAZETTE, 5/19). SI.com's Brian Hamilton wrote of "any risk a commissioner might take, cutting ties completely or at least significantly with ESPN would rank high." But it may be that the "cord-cutting and un-bundling unsettling the industry demands a different view, a bold and perhaps even counterintuitive approach" (SI.com, 5/18).
ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES: In Detroit, Mark Snyder notes when Michigan State last month "announced its long-term multimedia rights partnership with Fox," it appeared to be a "major boost to the bottom line." But MSU AD Mark Hollis "saw potential for branding and creativity as well in the deal." Hollis: "The Fox deal for us was more about relationship. There was an upside, but we were generating a lot of those dollars already with what we were doing in-house. For us, it was partnering with a group that we felt like was getting into that segment that we already have some partnerships with BTN. And yet we can do some creative things with what Fox does." Hollis added, "With Fox Sports Detroit, with BTN, we feel like they can leverage the Michigan State product differently that will be advantageous for them, but also is going to have a return for us" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 5/19).
