SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren expects to have an agreement in place on a new media rights deal for the conference in about one month’s time, he told CBS Sports on Monday.
The new deal, which would begin in 2023, could be worth a record-setting $1 billion per season, according to Sports Business Journal, which reported that Fox Sports already has a deal in place to renew its part of the deal. Warren did not confirm that report.
Warren said he soon expects a “memorandum of understanding” — common industry document that precedes a formal contract — to be agreed upon between the Big Ten and its rightsholders near the end of the month.
“Hopefully, we’ll be able to — as we get around Memorial Day, or soon thereafter — know what our structure is, who are partners will be and what it will look like,” Warren said in an interview during the Big Ten spring meetings. “This will be a very, very busy month.”
Some industry sources believe the Memorial Day timeline might be optimistic, but the Big Ten’s deal remains a hot topic. The conference’s rights are considered important in the industry because they will help set the market for subsequent negotiations in other conferences. The Big Ten remains a television giant with a quarter of the U.S. population living within its footprint that reaches from the Atlantic Ocean (Maryland, Rutgers) to the Midwest (Nebraska).
The main issue at hand for the Big Ten, according to industry sources, is deciding whether to give Fox all its rights, split those rights as they presently do with ESPN, or take a different road: find a partner besides ESPN or attempt to expand even further.
Warren stressed the presence of seven suitors in negotiations: CBS, NBC, TNT, Apple and Amazon in…
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