Editing Big Ten Conference (section)

==Broadcasting and media rights==

=== Fall 2007–Spring 2017 ===
Commissioner Jim Delany began to explore the formation of a Big Ten-specific channel in 2004 after a failed attempt to seek a significantly larger rights fee from [[ESPN]] to renew its existing agreements. This came to fruition in 2006, when the conference announced the formation of a dedicated cable network, [[Big Ten Network]], in a 20-year partnership with [[Fox Sports (United States)|Fox Sports]], which would officially launch in 2007.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://bigten.org/about/general/about-big-ten-conference/|title=Big Ten &#124;|website=Big Ten Conference}}</ref> The network carries coverage of Big Ten athletics (including events not carried by the Big Ten's other media partners), studio shows, as well as other original programs and documentaries profiling the conference and its members.<ref>{{cite news |date=October 12, 2006 |title=Big Ten and Fox Announce Official Name and Unveil Logo for Big Ten Network |publisher=Big Ten Conference |url=http://www.bigten.org/genrel/101206aaa.html |url-status=dead |access-date=July 17, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170708221429/http://www.bigten.org/genrel/101206aaa.html |archive-date=July 8, 2017}}</ref> The impact of Big Ten Network influenced the conference's expansion in the 2010s, with some of its newer members being located in proximity to major [[media market]]s such as [[Baltimore]] and [[Washington, D.C.]] (Maryland), and the [[New York metropolitan area]] (Rutgers).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Koo |first=Ben |date=2022-08-30 |title=A look back at the Big Ten-ESPN meeting that changed sports media forever |url=https://awfulannouncing.com/ncaa/consider-them-rolled-jim-delany-espn-big-ten-network.html |access-date=2023-03-06 |website=Awful Announcing |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=July 1, 2011 |title=ESPN's 'lowball' offer triggered Big Ten expansion |work=Chicago Tribune |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2011/07/01/espns-lowball-offer-triggered-big-ten-expansion/}}</ref>

Accompanying the new network announcement was a new ten-year media rights agreement beginning with the 2007–08 season and ending with the 2016–17 season that would split Big Ten coverage among the ESPN networks, CBS Sports, and Big Ten Network, thus ending Comcast Chicago's regional coverage of the conference.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bigten.org/news/2006/6/21/The_Big_Ten_Conference_Announces_Media_Agreements_Increasing_National_Coverage_of_Big_Ten_Sports.aspx|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231204021306/https://bigten.org/news/2006/6/21/The_Big_Ten_Conference_Announces_Media_Agreements_Increasing_National_Coverage_of_Big_Ten_Sports.aspx|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 4, 2023|title=The Big Ten Conference Announces Media Agreements Increasing National Coverage of Big Ten Sports|date=July 15, 2023 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://bigten.org/documents/2018/6/7/4168_genrel__tv-comparison-chart.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231204020820/https://bigten.org/documents/2018/6/7/4168_genrel__tv-comparison-chart.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 4, 2023|title=Television Programming Comparison}}</ref>

*'''ABC Sports''':
** 17 [[College Football on ABC|football]] games per season
*'''ESPN/ESPN2''':
** 24 [[ESPN College Football|football]] games per season
**43 men's [[ESPN College Basketball|basketball]] games per season
*** Rights to the first three rounds of the [[Big Ten men's basketball tournament]], to be shared with Big Ten Network
**5 women's [[ESPN College Basketball|basketball]] games per season
*'''ESPN Other (U,360)''':
**13 men's basketball games per season
*'''CBS Sports''':
** 15 men's [[College Basketball on CBS Sports|basketball]] games per-season
*** Rights to the semi-finals and championship game of the [[Big Ten men's basketball tournament]]
** 2 women's [[College Basketball on CBS Sports|basketball]] games per-season
*'''Big Ten Network''':
** 35 football games per season
** 105 men's basketball games per season
*** Rights to the first three rounds of the [[Big Ten men's basketball tournament]], to be shared with ESPN/ESPN2
** 55 women's basketball games per season
** Coverage of Olympic sports events

In 2010, the Big Ten announced the creation of the Big Ten Football Championship game starting with the 2011 season and signed a broadcast deal with Fox to broadcast the game from 2011 through 2016.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bigten.org/news/2010/11/17/big_ten_announces_media_agreement_with_fox_sports_to_televise_2011_16_big_ten_football_championship_games.aspx|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231204023636/https://bigten.org/news/2010/11/17/big_ten_announces_media_agreement_with_fox_sports_to_televise_2011_16_big_ten_football_championship_games.aspx|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 4, 2023|title=Big Ten Announces Media Agreement with FOX Sports to Televise 2011–16 Big Ten Football Championship Games|date=January 2024 }}</ref>

===Fall 2017–Spring 2023===
In 2016, the conference announced a new six-year media rights deal worth $2.64 billion with Fox Sports, CBS Sports, and ESPN to take effect with the start of the 2017–18 season and ending with the 2022–23 season. The size of the deal translated to a near tripling of the per-school media revenue share.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Journal/Issues/2016/06/20/Media/ESPN-Big-Ten/|title=ESPN stays in the game|date=June 20, 2016}} {{subscription required}}</ref>

The new deal would see regular season Big Ten football games airing on Fox and [[Fox Sports 1]] for the first time. As part of the deal, Fox would retain its coverage of the Big Ten Championship as well as obtain priority over ESPN when drafting regular season football games prior to each season. It would also put an end to ESPN's coverage of the Big Ten men's basketball tournament.

===Fall 2023–Spring 2030===
On August 18, 2022, the Big Ten announced that it had reached seven-year broadcast rights deals with Fox, [[CBS Sports|CBS]], and for the first time, [[NBC Sports]], beginning in the 2023–24 academic year, ending an association between the conference and ESPN dating back to the 1980s. A major goal for the new contracts was to establish specific broadcast windows for Big Ten football games across its three partners, with Fox, CBS, and NBC primarily holding rights to Noon ET, 3:30&nbsp;p.m. ET, and primetime games, respectively,<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Rittenberg |first=Adam |date=2022-08-18 |title=Big Ten completes 7-year, $7 billion media rights agreement with Fox, CBS, NBC |url=https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/34417911 |access-date=2022-08-18 |website=ESPN.com |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Dodd |first=Dennis |date=2022-08-18 |title=Big Ten reaches seven-year media rights deal with CBS, Fox and NBC for football, basketball through 2029–30 |url=https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/big-ten-reaches-seven-year-media-rights-deal-with-cbs-fox-and-nbc-for-football-basketball-through-2029-30/ |access-date=2022-08-18 |website=CBS Sports |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Bucholtz |first=Andrew |date=2022-08-18 |title=Big Ten announces deals with Fox, CBS, NBC, including championship game splits |url=https://awfulannouncing.com/ncaa/big-ten-announces-deals-with-fox-cbs-nbc-through-2029-30.html |access-date=2022-08-18 |website=Awful Announcing |language=en-US}}</ref> and the three broadcasters alternating first pick of games.<ref>{{Cite web |title='The power of broadcast TV cannot be underestimated': Big Ten readies for new media deal with NBC, CBS, Fox |url=https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/college/2023/07/26/big-ten-football-readies-for-tv-deal-with-nbc-cbs-fox/70471706007/ |access-date=2023-07-27 |website=The Indianapolis Star |language=en-US}}</ref> The contracts were estimated to be worth at least $7 billion,<ref name=":1"/><ref>{{Cite news |date=2022-08-18 |title=Big Ten lands multibillion-dollar TV deal, the richest in college sports |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/08/18/big-ten-tv-rights/ |access-date=2022-08-18 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref> but also reportedly includes an "escalator clause" that will raise the value of the contracts if the [[Notre Dame Fighting Irish]] were to specifically join the Big Ten.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web |last=Ourand |first=John |date=2022-08-23 |title=New Big Ten TV deals up price if Notre Dame joins league |url=https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/en/Daily/Issues/2022/08/23/Media/Notre-Dame-Big-Ten-rights-deals |access-date=2022-08-24 |website=Sports Business Journal}}</ref>
*'''Fox Sports''':
** 24 to 32 [[Fox College Football|football]] games per season:
*** Will primarily air in a Noon ET window (''Big Noon Saturday''), but with the option for games in other windows after the West Coast schools join in 2024.
*** Rights to the Big Ten championship game in 2023, 2025, 2027, and 2029.
** At least 45 men's [[Fox College Hoops|basketball]] games per-season on Fox and [[Fox Sports 1|FS1]].
** Selected women's [[Fox College Hoops|basketball]] games and Olympic sport events.
*'''CBS Sports''':
** 14 to 15 [[College Football on CBS Sports|football]] games per season on [[CBS]] and [[Paramount+]]:
*** Will primarily air in a 3:30&nbsp;p.m. ET window beginning in 2024, once CBS's contract with the [[Southeastern Conference|SEC]] expires (CBS will air seven games in other timeslots during the 2023 season). 
*** Includes one Friday afternoon game on [[American football on Thanksgiving#College football|Thanksgiving]] weekend.
*** Rights to the Big Ten championship game in 2024 and 2028.
** Up to 15 men's [[College Basketball on CBS Sports|basketball]] games per-season:
*** Rights to the semi-finals and championship game of the [[Big Ten men's basketball tournament]]
*** Rights to the championship game of the [[Big Ten women's basketball tournament]]
*'''NBC Sports''':
** 14 to 16 [[College Football on NBC Sports|football]] games per season on [[NBC]] and [[Peacock (streaming service)|Peacock]]:
*** Games will primarily air in a primetime window on NBC
*** Eight games will stream exclusively on Peacock, including four intraconference games.
*** Rights to the Big Ten championship game in 2026
** Up to 77 [[College Basketball on NBC Sports|basketball]] games per-season on Peacock:
*** Up to 47 men's basketball games, including 32 intraconference games.
*** Up to 30 women's basketball games, including 20 intraconference games.
*** Rights to the opening night doubleheaders of the men's and women's basketball tournaments.
** Up to 40 live Olympic sports events per-season on Peacock.
*'''Big Ten Network''':
** Up to 50 football games per season
** At least 126 men's basketball games per season
*** Second round and quarter-final games of the Big Ten men's basketball tournament
** At least 40 women's basketball games per season
*** Coverage of the Big Ten women's basketball tournament (outside of the first round and championship game)
** Coverage of Olympic sports events

Following the deal's signing, it was later revealed that several schools had issues with playing football games at night in November, with some having formal clauses allowing them to veto games in that timeslot.<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |last=Axelrod |first=Ben |date=2024-11-22 |title=NBC frustrated with Big Ten deal, which it still hasn't officially signed |url=https://awfulannouncing.com/nbc/frustrated-big-ten-deal-still-hasnt-officially-signed.html |access-date=2024-12-25 |website=Awful Announcing |language=en-US}}</ref> The conference would also have to compensate Fox $40 million for the 2026 Big Ten championship game, as the conference did not actually have the right to offer the game to NBC. Instead, under the terms of the agreement regarding the operation of Big Ten Network, the channel officially owns the conference's media rights and then sublicenses them out to other channels, thus Fox has a stake in any content BTN sublicenses.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://awfulannouncing.com/college-football/kevin-warren-nbc-fox-big-ten-tv-deal.html |title=Analyzing ESPN's report on an unfinished Big Ten TV deal, Kevin Warren criticisms, and the conference having to 'pay back' Fox and NBC |date=May 22, 2023  |author-first1=Andrew|author-last1=Bucholtz}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-05-21 |title=How an unfinished TV deal led to an unexpectedly hectic first month for the new Big Ten commissioner |url=https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/37693310/big-ten-new-commissioner-television-deal-coaches-uncertainty |access-date=2024-12-25 |website=ESPN.com |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":6" />

Starting 2024, NBC aired some of its Big Ten basketball games on its broadcast network, rather than Peacock.<ref>{{cite web |last=Berg |first=Aiden |date=October 9, 2024 |title=NBC, Peacock's full Big Ten men's basketball schedule released for 2024-25 season |url=https://www.nbcsports.com/college-basketball/news/nbc-peacocks-full-big-ten-mens-basketball-schedule-released-for-2024-25-season |website=NBC Sports}}</ref>