Our BFF, the BTN
Today it’s our turn to marvel at the Big Ten Network and its Robert Downey Jr.-like turnaround.
It’s detailed in the story, but let’s say it again because the numbers have been misinterpreted in a few places this summer. Here’s the breakdown of the Big Ten money for the 2009-10 budget year – which rose from $22 million in 2008-09 to nearly $25 million.
* Money from Big Ten Network: $6.498 million
* Money from other TV deals: $8.432 million
* Bowl games payout: $1.98 million
* Big Ten Tournament: $350,000
* NCAA money (basketball tournament, sponsorships): $7.41 million
So no, Big Ten schools aren’t getting $20 million-plus from the BTN. And no, Big Ten schools aren’t getting $20 million-plus from TV. The TV deal yielded $14.93 million per school last year, which is still a hefty number, but it’s also the same as Notre Dame’s reported deal. And Notre Dame doesn't share its bowl money with anyone else.
So all this talk that Big Ten schools are lapping Notre Dame at the bank is overblown (for now, anyway), based on an inaccurate report or two that got picked up again and again and again.
Also overblown: My perception of this situation – before I actually did the reporting – as the start of a possible TV revolution. The way I imagined it, all the other leagues would eventually get their own networks, and those networks would eventually start taking more and more of their premier “inventory” (games), until the Worldwide Leader and the networks found themselves lighter in the wallets.
Not likely. The people who follow this stuff for a living see no problems for the mainstream TV entities in the future. For one thing, John Ourand thinks the cable companies “have learned lessons from the Big Ten Network, and they’re going to do all they can to prevent this from happening elsewhere.”
For another, Ourand points to the NFL Network as an example. It could be the most powerful channel in existence. All the NFL has to do is take all its inventory there and it will be distributed everywhere at a hefty price with enormous ratings.
But the NFL knows that its value as a product would suffer if it weren’t on network TV and ESPN. And the Big Ten knows it needs football games on ESPN and ABC, and basketball games on ESPN and CBS, regardless of how much its network might benefit from hogging all the good stuff.
Other items from the cutting room floor:
* Richard Sheehan, a Notre Dame professor I’ve used as a source for many years on college sports business stories, details how his school still could end up in the Big Ten. It’s really only likely in the scenario in which four super leagues with 16 teams apiece emerge. And while that scenario may be a while off, it’s a real possibility.
The problem with that move is that it would essentially chop Division I-A, or FBS, from 120 teams down to 64. And while Orrin Hatch may be placated by Utah’s move to the Pac-Whatever, certainly there will be others who take his place in Congress talking about “monopolistic, anti-competitive practices,” Sheehan said.
“I don’t see them going quietly into that good night,” he said.
In talking to Sheehan, who deals directly in the school’s negotiations with NBC and knows exactly what’s going on inside the hallowed halls, I get the feeling that AD Jack Swarbrick is bracing everyone for the fact that he may have no choice but to relent. Because he really won’t have one if this goes down.
* When BTN and Comcast first struck a deal, it was made clear that Comcast could elect to move the network to a higher tier after a year. But it hasn’t happened and doesn’t appear to be a future concern for Silverman. Ourand said it shouldn’t be.
“It’s very difficult, once you launch a channel, to then take that channel away from your subscribers,” Ourand said.
* This story is about financial impact, but I’d like to find out in a couple years about the impact this network is having on Big Ten recruiting for “Olympic,” or non-revenue sports. The BTN has a lot of hours that need to be filled, a lot of live sporting events that had never been televised, making for exposure that other conferences can’t match. The “Student U” program has further increased coverage of sports such as wrestling and gymnastics that weren’t getting much live play at first.
“It may be five to 10 years before we truly understand the impact of the Big Ten Network,” Revsine said.
He also said there’s an experimental kind of feeling at the network, a lot of ideas bouncing around and seeing the light of camera. Some are working, such as producer Bill Friedman’s reality series, “The Journey,” which struck gold last season when it focused on the entire Big Ten hoops season. That will continue this season and should become an annual staple. Others haven’t worked, such as that talk show with Eddie George (“The Loft?” “The Octagon?” I forget). It didn’t seem like anyone was feeling that one.
This fall, “Big Ten Icons,” hosted by none other than Keith Jackson and counting down the best and most influential athletes in Big Ten history, would seem to have the potential to lure viewers and inspire bar arguments.
* A Chicago Tribune story in May said conference officials have seen estimates of BTN revenue doubling by 2015-16 depending on the results of expansion.
For now, Nebraska is adding some TV sets and a nationally prominent football program, but now the pie will be cut 12 ways. As Hollis pointed out, a Big Ten title game will probably mean about $1 million more per school per year (the SEC title game reportedly yielded $14.3 million last year).
“The Big Ten could have brought in Central Michigan and it wouldn’t have diluted the pot of money,” Sheehan said.
So where is the Big Ten going next and how much influence does the Big Ten Network have? Silverman said his discussions with Jim Delany on expansion have been “strictly tangential,” but it’s not like Delany needs a compass.
“If you’re the Big Ten, you’ve got to crack New York City,” Sheehan said. “You’ve got to crack the Northeast.”
Sheehan said he has long been “bullish on Rutgers” and thinks the Big Ten would be wise to go Rutgers, UConn and Boston College.
“Give the Big Ten those three programs, and they may not be premier programs at the moment, but you’d bring in a whole lot of eyeballs and revenues,” Sheehan said. “And you’d give those programs a lot more football money, and then who knows what happens 10-20 years down the road.”
BTN ad revenue went up 30 percent last year, said Silverman (who also refuted written reports that said ad revenue makes up 60 percent of the pie). But it’s about subscribers much more than viewers.
“How many people have ESPN on their cable, pay for it, but never watch it? I’d say 50 percent, and if someone told me it was 75 I wouldn’t argue,” Sheehan said. “If you asked everyone in the state of Michigan if they’re passionate about Michigan or Michigan State football, passionate enough to watch the Big Ten Network regularly, what fraction of the people would say yes?”
Probably a fraction of the people who pay for it. But then, we all pay for Hallmark and Speed, too. I’m guessing readers of this blog watch BTN as much as anything else from September to April. It has gone very quickly from nuisance to necessity around here.
* It's also helping students interested in a career in broadcasting to gain hands-on experience. Insert local example here.
* Money from Big Ten Network: $6.498 million
* Money from other TV deals: $8.432 million
* Bowl games payout: $1.98 million
* Big Ten Tournament: $350,000
* NCAA money (basketball tournament, sponsorships): $7.41 million
So no, Big Ten schools aren’t getting $20 million-plus from the BTN. And no, Big Ten schools aren’t getting $20 million-plus from TV. The TV deal yielded $14.93 million per school last year, which is still a hefty number, but it’s also the same as Notre Dame’s reported deal. And Notre Dame doesn't share its bowl money with anyone else.
So all this talk that Big Ten schools are lapping Notre Dame at the bank is overblown (for now, anyway), based on an inaccurate report or two that got picked up again and again and again.
Also overblown: My perception of this situation – before I actually did the reporting – as the start of a possible TV revolution. The way I imagined it, all the other leagues would eventually get their own networks, and those networks would eventually start taking more and more of their premier “inventory” (games), until the Worldwide Leader and the networks found themselves lighter in the wallets.
Not likely. The people who follow this stuff for a living see no problems for the mainstream TV entities in the future. For one thing, John Ourand thinks the cable companies “have learned lessons from the Big Ten Network, and they’re going to do all they can to prevent this from happening elsewhere.”
For another, Ourand points to the NFL Network as an example. It could be the most powerful channel in existence. All the NFL has to do is take all its inventory there and it will be distributed everywhere at a hefty price with enormous ratings.
But the NFL knows that its value as a product would suffer if it weren’t on network TV and ESPN. And the Big Ten knows it needs football games on ESPN and ABC, and basketball games on ESPN and CBS, regardless of how much its network might benefit from hogging all the good stuff.
Other items from the cutting room floor:
* Richard Sheehan, a Notre Dame professor I’ve used as a source for many years on college sports business stories, details how his school still could end up in the Big Ten. It’s really only likely in the scenario in which four super leagues with 16 teams apiece emerge. And while that scenario may be a while off, it’s a real possibility.
The problem with that move is that it would essentially chop Division I-A, or FBS, from 120 teams down to 64. And while Orrin Hatch may be placated by Utah’s move to the Pac-Whatever, certainly there will be others who take his place in Congress talking about “monopolistic, anti-competitive practices,” Sheehan said.
“I don’t see them going quietly into that good night,” he said.
In talking to Sheehan, who deals directly in the school’s negotiations with NBC and knows exactly what’s going on inside the hallowed halls, I get the feeling that AD Jack Swarbrick is bracing everyone for the fact that he may have no choice but to relent. Because he really won’t have one if this goes down.
* When BTN and Comcast first struck a deal, it was made clear that Comcast could elect to move the network to a higher tier after a year. But it hasn’t happened and doesn’t appear to be a future concern for Silverman. Ourand said it shouldn’t be.
“It’s very difficult, once you launch a channel, to then take that channel away from your subscribers,” Ourand said.
* This story is about financial impact, but I’d like to find out in a couple years about the impact this network is having on Big Ten recruiting for “Olympic,” or non-revenue sports. The BTN has a lot of hours that need to be filled, a lot of live sporting events that had never been televised, making for exposure that other conferences can’t match. The “Student U” program has further increased coverage of sports such as wrestling and gymnastics that weren’t getting much live play at first.
“It may be five to 10 years before we truly understand the impact of the Big Ten Network,” Revsine said.
He also said there’s an experimental kind of feeling at the network, a lot of ideas bouncing around and seeing the light of camera. Some are working, such as producer Bill Friedman’s reality series, “The Journey,” which struck gold last season when it focused on the entire Big Ten hoops season. That will continue this season and should become an annual staple. Others haven’t worked, such as that talk show with Eddie George (“The Loft?” “The Octagon?” I forget). It didn’t seem like anyone was feeling that one.
This fall, “Big Ten Icons,” hosted by none other than Keith Jackson and counting down the best and most influential athletes in Big Ten history, would seem to have the potential to lure viewers and inspire bar arguments.
* A Chicago Tribune story in May said conference officials have seen estimates of BTN revenue doubling by 2015-16 depending on the results of expansion.
For now, Nebraska is adding some TV sets and a nationally prominent football program, but now the pie will be cut 12 ways. As Hollis pointed out, a Big Ten title game will probably mean about $1 million more per school per year (the SEC title game reportedly yielded $14.3 million last year).
“The Big Ten could have brought in Central Michigan and it wouldn’t have diluted the pot of money,” Sheehan said.
So where is the Big Ten going next and how much influence does the Big Ten Network have? Silverman said his discussions with Jim Delany on expansion have been “strictly tangential,” but it’s not like Delany needs a compass.
“If you’re the Big Ten, you’ve got to crack New York City,” Sheehan said. “You’ve got to crack the Northeast.”
Sheehan said he has long been “bullish on Rutgers” and thinks the Big Ten would be wise to go Rutgers, UConn and Boston College.
“Give the Big Ten those three programs, and they may not be premier programs at the moment, but you’d bring in a whole lot of eyeballs and revenues,” Sheehan said. “And you’d give those programs a lot more football money, and then who knows what happens 10-20 years down the road.”
BTN ad revenue went up 30 percent last year, said Silverman (who also refuted written reports that said ad revenue makes up 60 percent of the pie). But it’s about subscribers much more than viewers.
“How many people have ESPN on their cable, pay for it, but never watch it? I’d say 50 percent, and if someone told me it was 75 I wouldn’t argue,” Sheehan said. “If you asked everyone in the state of Michigan if they’re passionate about Michigan or Michigan State football, passionate enough to watch the Big Ten Network regularly, what fraction of the people would say yes?”
Probably a fraction of the people who pay for it. But then, we all pay for Hallmark and Speed, too. I’m guessing readers of this blog watch BTN as much as anything else from September to April. It has gone very quickly from nuisance to necessity around here.
* It's also helping students interested in a career in broadcasting to gain hands-on experience. Insert local example here.
And with that, it’s time for me to get out of here for a week of vacation. Which directly conflicts with the Top-10 Guarantee for June and July that you probably don’t care about anyway, but I should probably live up to my word. So I owe you five next week. If anything blows up in the next few days, someone will be along to post here. If not, I’ll talk to you from Big Ten football media days, starting Aug. 2 in Chicago. Football’s here.
