April 20--The Big Ten is poised to shift much of its media rights from ESPN to Fox.
An industry source on Tuesday confirmed a Sports Business Daily report that a pending six-year deal would give Fox Sports and Fox Sports 1 about 25 football games and 50 men's basketball games per season starting in the fall of 2017.
The deal could be worth as much as $250 million per year -- and that's for only half of the Big Ten's inventory. ESPN has been paying $100 million a year.
The Big Ten will return to market to solicit bids on the second half of the package, according to the report. Among the potential interested parties are ESPN/ABC, CBS, NBC and Turner Sports.
ESPN had first negotiation rights to renew, but the network is in cost-cutting mode after losing about 7 million subscribers from 2014 to 2016 as so-called "cord cutters" opt for slimmed-down TV packages.
Commissioner Jim Delany is personally handling the negotiations for the Big Ten -- no surprise, considering how he boosted revenue by creating the Big Ten Network. BTN's deal with the conference runs through 2031-32.
Sports Business Daily has reported that CBS wants to renew its package of men's basketball games, currently worth $12 million a year. That contract, like ESPN's, expires after next season.
Each Big Ten school, save for newbies Maryland and Rutgers, is expected to receive $40 million to $45 million a year in media rights once the new deals kick in. That figure was $20 million in 2009-10.
