Despite NBC president Jon Miller recently discussing interest his network fielded from streaming services looking to buy the upcoming Big Ten Championship game, it appears as if the network didn’t have much choice in the matter.
According to a report by college football insider Brett McMurphy of On3, “NBC had no authority to keep Fox from buying back the [Big Ten Championship] game if Fox wanted it.” Previous reports indicated NBC had been trying to shop the 2026 Big Ten title game, the only time it would be awarded the game under its seven-year media rights deal with the conference, to a streamer. However, earlier this month, The Wall Street Journal reported that NBC was nearing a deal with Fox.
That deal is now finalized, per McMurphy. But it seems NBC would not have been able to sublicense the game to a streamer even if it could have found a willing dance partner.
Fox, through its ownership of Big Ten Network, controls media rights for the conference. NBC’s Big Ten deal is already, in practice, a sublicense from Fox. In a unique arrangement, the Big Ten’s media rights are licensed by the conference to Big Ten Network, which Fox owns. So when the Big Ten was negotiating new broadcast deals with NBC and CBS to begin in 2023, NBC and CBS were really negotiating with Fox, not the conference itself.
It’s all a bit confusing, but explains why Fox would have ultimate authority over where NBC could potentially sell the upcoming Big Ten title game. Essentially, the choice Fox gave NBC was, “air it yourself, or sell it to us.”
Per The Wall Street Journal, Fox will pay NBC beween $45 million and $55 million for the game, substantially less than the $70 million price tag NBC was looking to get out of a streamer.
New in McMurphy’s report is a detail about additional game compensation for NBC. The WSJ report earlier this month indicated NBC, in addition to the cash payment from Fox, would receive additional regular-season inventory as part of the deal. Per McMurphy, that will amount to one additional Big Ten game this season that would have previously been allocated to Fox.
All told, Fox will now air the Big Ten Championship game in five of the seven years covered by the current slate of Big Ten media rights deals, while CBS will broadcast the other two (one of which came in 2024).
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.