The Big Ten conference, or B1G when it comes to logos and branding, is in a position of strength in relation to other NCAA athletic conferences, not necessarily because of the product on the field or the court, but because of its cable TV deals. The conference’s new TV deals put the Big Ten ahead of the SEC in terms of earnings from TV going into the future.
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By that analysis, the SEC would be making about $380 million ($255 ESPN/CBS plus $125 SEC Network) to the Big Ten’s $390 million from regular TV revenue before factoring in postseason play. That’s not a huge gap, especially when you consider that each league has 14 schools, but the new Big Ten deal at the very least puts the conference on pretty equal financial footing with the SEC, and perhaps slightly better footing.
Factoring in other conference-distributed revenue streams such as postseason play is how you get to those estimates of $43 million per school in 2017-18 (which would be $602 million total) and $54 million per school at the end of the contract in 2022-23 ($756 million total). The SEC could still come out ahead if it makes more from postseason play, and that’s certainly a possibility. Still, the Big Ten seems to be in pole position here.
As these conferences, and the member schools, continue to make money hand over fist from these TV deals, it seems likely also that there will be a greater push from players—the people who actually play the sports that earn the conferences these lucrative TV deal—to see some part of that revenue. For now, though, the Big Ten and the SEC are big moneymakers and they have TV, and unpaid labor, to thank for it.
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