Amie Just: It’ll take some time to adjust, but new Big Ten media deal a game-changer | Football

Ah yes, that’s CBS’ music.

As the opening notes blare over the speakers, I flash back to all the Iron Bowls and all the Alabama-LSU games I’ve watched since childhood. Cuddled up on my mom’s couch for the Kick Six before subsequently scaring the dog or packed into a courtyard at a New Orleans bar watching Joe Burrow end LSU’s losing streak to Alabama in ceremonial fashion.

But in 2023, that famed melody will begin to separate itself from the land of where It Just Means More and unite with the Big Ten.

Prepare yourselves now. Hearing the jingle and then seeing Rutgers and Northwestern? That’ll take some time to get used to.

It’s not just CBS though, as announced Thursday for the Big Ten’s new multi-billion dollar rights deal. Kevin Warren’s Big Ten seemingly approached this new deal a la the NFL with CBS, NBC, Fox and Peacock. That makes sense for a former NFL executive.

Yeah, there’s two big players missing from the table. This deal leaves ABC and ESPN out of the picture for the first time in forever. Specifically, Nebraska’s allegiance to ABC dates back generations, with the Game of the Century in 1971 airing on those airwaves, among other assorted memorable contests. And ESPN, that pairing goes back to basically the dawn of the network.

Though, that momentous Big Ten/ABC/ESPN divorce had been previously reported — giving us kids a little extra time to cope. And luckily for us change-averse folks, this switch isn’t happening next week. New deal begins July 1, 2023.

Whether it’s next week or next year, though, this will take some re-training for all of us.

I’m guilty of it — channel surfing out of boredom through the ESPN properties or clicking through ESPN+ looking for a game to watch when the teams I root for (full disclosure: Kansas alumna, Montana fan, casual LSU observer) are off or have already taken the field for the day. And, I don’t subscribe to Peacock, but I suppose that’ll be mandatory once this goes into effect.

I’m not worried about football. Fewer games, more fans, established networks, all that jazz. I am concerned about what this means for college basketball (and volleyball and baseball.) ESPN is far and away the leader for hoops. Always has been, probably always will be. Sure, plenty of those contests will continue to air on the Big Ten Network, but how many eyeballs will Peacock pull for a random game? I suppose we’ll find out.

But this isn’t about the fans and our watching habits.

Cash is king, and this deal has quite a few zeroes. The most, in fact, considering this is the largest media rights deal of all time.

All told, this seven-year rights agreement with CBS, NBC and Fox brings the conference more than $7 billion, per reports, and that number will increase after USC and UCLA become members of the Big Ten-but-really-Big Sixteen Conference. To work out the math, that’s $80-$100 million per member school annually. Based on previously reported numbers, the Big Ten doled out $54.3 million to member schools before the pandemic.

For those keeping track at home, that’s a massive difference in cash flow. A game-changer, so to speak.

More money? Big Ten schools like the sound of that.

Even if that music will take some time to get used to.