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Big Ten Conference Announces Media Rights Deal with CBS, FOX, NBC and Peacock

The Big Ten Conference announced on Thursday morning that it has reached a record seven-year broadcast and media rights deal with CBS, FOX, NBC and NBCUniversal’s streaming platform, Peacock.

While the conference did not announce the financial scope of the deal in its initial press release, multiple reports from within the industry state that the Big Ten will receive between $7-$8 billion over the seven-year span working out to an annual figure around $1.2 billion to be distributed throughout the conference.

The new deal begins in July 1, 2023 and will run through the 2029-30 season. USC and UCLA are set to join the conference as full members in 2024.

In addition to the newly added broadcast partners, the Big Ten Network (BTN) and FS1 will continue to broadcast various football and Olympic sports content and competition.

For the broadcast networks, football Saturday schedules will include games on FOX at noon ET, CBS at 3:30 p.m. ET and NBC in prime time.

ESPN/ABC, which have had broadcast rights for Big Ten football for 40 years, are not part of the new deal.

“The Big Ten Conference media rights agreements are more than just dollars and deals. They are a mechanism to provide stability and maximum exposure for our student-athletes, member institutions and partners during these uncertain times in collegiate athletics,” Big Ten Conference Commissioner Kevin Warren said. “We are very grateful to our world-class media partners for recognizing the strength of the Big Ten Conference brand and providing the incredible resources we need for our student-athletes to compete at the very highest levels, and to achieve their academic and athletics goals.” 

The Big Ten Conference new media agreements grant the following rights to their partners:

BTN will continue to televise a full slate of football, basketball and Olympic sport competition throughout the entire year.

CBS’s initial season in 2023 will include seven football games, regular season and postseason men’s basketball games and the Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament final. The Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament semifinals and final will continue the 25-year tradition of airing on CBS. Every CBS Big Ten football and basketball broadcast will also be streamed on Paramount+.

Starting in 2024, CBS will televise up to 15 regular-season football games per season, including an annual Black Friday game in the afternoon.

FOX has renewed its agreement to televise football and men’s basketball games each season, with the opportunity to carry additional sports throughout the year. In 2021-22 year, Fox captured the No. 1 time slot in college football for the first time with its Big Noon Saturday platform that featured 10-14 games involving a Big Ten team, and the men’s basketball season ended with the top three most watched games in the history of FS1, all featuring Big Ten programs. 

NBC will produce 14-to-16 games on broadcast television each season as it introduces “Big Ten Saturday Night.” Each Big Ten game on NBC broadcast will also be simul-streamed on Peacock, NBCUniversal’s direct-to-consumer streaming service.

Peacock, will stream exclusive Big Ten football and basketball games each season, with eight regular-season football games to appear on the platform along with as many as 47 regular-season men’s basketball games (32 conference and 15 non-conference) and 30 regular-season women’s basketball games (20 conference and 10 non-conference).

CBS, FOX and NBC will share the seven Big Ten Football Championship Games during the term. 
 
CBS: 2024, 2028
 
FOX: 2023, 2025, 2027, 2029
 
NBC: 2026