By 2025, the Big Ten will have 16 members. The coming additions of USC and UCLA extend the league from sea to shining sea. The obvious question is what, or more precisely, who, is next.
Notre Dame is the prime target but that’s been true for decades now.
The Big Ten has almost always wanted Notre Dame, but the Irish long ago put them in the friendzone. Thanks for asking, but we treasure our independence and the ACC is always there to serve our needs.
The Big Ten has remained undeterred, believing that maybe if it just went to the gym a little more or cracked a few more jokes then Notre Dame would see what it was missing and commit.
Well, this time the Big Ten is sitting out front in a Lamborghini, waving the keys to its new LA beach house and saying it’s now or never. While no one is sure what Notre Dame will do this time, let’s just say the Irish are at least taking a second look.
If the Irish say no, again, then the obvious move for the Big Ten is just to stay out West and take the whole place.
If you’re going to have 16 teams, why not 20? Add Cal and Stanford for the academic prowess and Bay Area. Grab Oregon and Washington for some competitive teams and the Pacific Northwest. Be the league of the Midwest and the West. The Big Ten always loved the Rose Bowl. Now they can own it all.
The hook here is whether four more schools are even worth it, and this is part of the media rights mentality that isn’t getting a ton of attention.
Industry sources said the Big Ten was on its way to signing a deal that would pay at least $1 billion per year. Adding USC and UCLA will only drive that number higher, but not merely because they are big brands from a big media market.
The real value, sources said, is that the Big Ten made itself even more coveted by gutting the competition.
Right now Fox controls half of the Big Ten television rights. Two other entities are expected to split the other half. The main candidates are obvious:
* ESPN (which has exclusive rights to the SEC).
* NBC (which would like to pair games around Notre Dame).
* CBS (which just lost its SEC affiliation).
* Turner Sports (which would like to get into college football).
* Various streaming platforms and tech companies (namely Amazon and Apple) that could jump in.
Until Thursday’s expansion news, all of the above were staring at a college…