Big Ten Expansion Part Four

  Chicago, Illinois Many people misunderstand how the Big Ten Network has produced millions of dollars for the schools it represents. According to a

  

Chicago, Illinois

Many people misunderstand how the Big Ten Network has produced millions of dollars for the schools it represents. According to a source inside the conference it isn’t how most think. The advertising revenue hasn’t been greatly successful. Where the Network makes millions is that each cable network or satellite outlet is charged a fee for each home it represents.

 

It was the size of that fee that originally caused the troubles with those various carriers when the Network launched. That is why a Texas is so attractive. Texas athletics is so big in the state that the millions of Texas homes would demand the Big Ten Network if Commissioner Jim Delany could make that deal. Texas is huge and all of those homes would instantly bring millions of dollars to the Network before any advertiser was sold.

 

Conversely, a Nebraska that comes from a smaller state has as rabid of fans, perhaps even more devout than Texas, but they don’t bring the volume of homes as Texas. Still, Nebraska is a great fit for the conference, but as a point of reference won’t bring the dollars. Notre Dame would instantly bring the nation. Like it or not, Notre Dame national following may be mocked on various message boards, but the numbers don’t lie. For football the Irish get huge numbers of homes that tune in to watch in every market, coast to coast and in all socio economic and races.

 

Adding a Notre Dame would instantly bring the east coast that Delany craves and doesn’t require the conference to add a Syracuse and Rutgers school that many do not want. In fact, my source at the Big Ten who spoke to Spartan Nation on the condition of anonymity because of Commissioner Delany’s edict that anyone who speaks would get fired as I told you about yesterday said, “There isn’t a great feeling about east coast schools who don’t draw either in person or in the ratings. If you see a Syracuse or a Rutgers it is my opinion that we had to settle.” Ouch!

 

Because of the desire to get to 16 schools, the league is trying to get a Texas and a Notre Dame to be the crown jewels of expansion. Both publicly have given reason to make people think they aren’t germane. They very well may turn out not to be a part when all is said and done, but the reaction of Commissioner Delany to an Internet report from earlier this month, people at the Big Ten believe they are very much in the mix.

 

For now, let’s look at some other schools that are at least being looked at. That doesn’t mean an offer, or that they have even been contacted. It means they are being looked at.

Keep in mind that as the population of the United States moves towards the south, that my source inside the Big Ten told me today that, “I think that is the Commissioner trying to set the stage for Texas or another southern school.”

 

Iowa State is an option that publicly hasn’t gotten a lot of attention, but has privately. They are an AAU school. They are very competitive in sports and seem to be a good fit. The biggest negative is that they are the clear second place school in a state that doesn’t deliver any more homes. They are second in the state to the Hawkeyes and with little other impact they can add economically they seem to be a long shot.

 

Kansas is also an AAU school. They have all of the tangibles such as athletics and size that the Big Ten craves. Unlike Iowa State, they would deliver some new homes, but the general consensus is that they are not interested. 

 

Maryland is another AAU school that brings more of the east coast market than Syracuse or Rutgers. Arguments could be made that they won’t deliver New York, but there are many strong arguments for them. My source at the Big Ten told me, “They aren’t getting a lot of play and I don’t know if it is because they aren’t interested.  They do make a lot of sense.”

 

Georgia Tech is a dark horse that gets little attention, but is on the radar. Again, they are a long ways away. Imagine the Gophers in Minneapolis traveling there for a winter basketball game or a volleyball match. The even bigger dollars that an expanded Big Ten Network would bring could cover the air travel with ease. The Big Ten is also concerned with the numbers of northern citizens moving south, and they are at least taking that into consideration in this process. Tech would bring a lot of new homes and of course a new market so that is very appealing for the conference. Of the southern schools, Tech is the most logical. Again, I am not calling them a favorite, but they are at least being looked at by the Big Ten.  They are believed to be very happy where they are, but it doesn’t mean that the Big Ten won’t look.

 

Virginia Tech is a name that has been thrown around a lot. The Hokies are not an AAU school, but they are prestigious in academia and well respected. They also bring with them the D.C. market as well as Virginia. As the Big Ten looks at the migration of northern families to the south, they have looked.

 

University of Virginia is a school that is under the radar from speculation. Not a favorite from the south to join and who knows if they would even want it, but they have at least been looked at. They are an AAU school, are competitive in sports, and would deliver new markets to the Big Ten Network. Of all the schools mentioned today, based on my source at the Big Ten, this is the longest shot.

 

All of these names are ones that I have been told at least have gotten some consideration in the process. I am in no way saying any will or won’t join. I am simply passing on who is being looked at.

 

Ideally, Pittsburgh, Nebraska, Missouri, Notre Dame and Texas would join. I certainly don’t want to see schools that are a bad fit added simply because they offer TV markets that bring money. As one Big Ten employee told me in the last week, “I hope that greed doesn’t motivate the Commissioner and the schools more than the right fit.” I agree. 

 

In part five we will look at how expansion is being looked at from the current eleven team persepctive.