'Groundbreaking' Big Ten Media Deal Worth Estimated $7 Billion: Report

ROSEMONT, IL – The Big Ten Conference has always pitched itself as the college athletic conference that provides its athletes with a big life, big stage mentality.

But a new TV deal announced Thursday by the conference will also mean big bucks to the league and its schools. The Big Ten announced on Thursday that beginning in 2023, it will have its football, men’s and women’s basketball, and Olympic sports on a major platform of television networks including CBS, Fox, NBC, and NBC Peacock.

The Associated Press, citing sources close to the deal, said the contract is worth $7 billion in a deal that will run through 2030.

The league, which declined to address the financial details of the contract, called the new media deal "groundbreaking."

The Big Ten announced in June that both UCLA and USC will join the conference beginning in 2024. Both California schools said in statements that joining the Big Ten offers the universities a bigger chunk of revenue and exposure than they were receiving with the Pacific 12 Conference.

The Big Ten announced Thursday that football will dominate fall Saturdays beginning next year. Fox will broadcast games at noon with CBS picking up 3:30 p.m. kickoffs before NBC will show games being played in prime time. The league said that the contracts will allow games to be shown coast-to-coast with schools representing the nation’s top three media markets in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago.

“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 in a statement on Thursday. “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 conference said that the Big Ten Network will continue to carry coverage of games on a year-round basis and will maintain its “strong position” as the home for Big Ten games.