Report: Big Ten decision on future of divisions could impact lucrative media rights deal

The future of divisions in college football has been a topic of conversation since the NCAA relaxed guidelines for conference championship games last month. In the Big Ten, it’s part of another important discussion as a new media rights deal looms.

The Athletic’s Scott Dochterman, Nicole Auerbach and Stewart Mandel wrote about the issues at hand as the Big Ten works out its future media deal. The league currently has East and West divisions, and the winners advance to the conference title game. As conferences such as the Pac-12 eliminate their divisions, the numbers show the Big Ten might be better off keeping the current format.

According to The Athletic, 18 Big Ten games reached 3.5 million viewers last year. The top three games — Ohio State vs. Michigan, Michigan vs. Michigan State and Penn State vs. Ohio State — featured two East division teams, and nine of them featured East division teams vs. West division opponents. That could be an incentive to keep things status quo.

“Debate ensues about the competitive makeup of the current East-West alignment, with the East holding a 77-70 lead spanning eight years of regular-season action but an 8-0 advantage in Big Ten championship games,” the article read. “Ohio State skews any alignment with a 61-5 Big Ten record, an 18-2 mark in cross-divisional games and a 5-0 tally in league title games. But when it comes to viewership, the current geographic setup is a ratings winner.

“Of the 18 Big Ten-only games generating at least 3.5 million viewers, the top three involved East-only games (Ohio State-Michigan, 15.9 million viewers; Michigan-Michigan State, 9.3 million; Penn State-Ohio State, 7 million). But nine of the 18 games with 3.5 million viewers involved cross-divisional matchups with Iowa-Penn State leading at 6.9 million. Overall, seven East-only games and two West-only games reached at least 3.5 million viewers.”

Report: How ESPN fits into the Big Ten media rights equation

There are a few different scenarios in play for the Big Ten media rights deal, according to The Athletic. One of them includes a triple-header split between Fox, CBS and NBC. Amazon is also expressing interest in streaming one game per week on Amazon Prime, which recently landed Thursday Night Football.

But ESPN is part of the Big Ten’s current agreement, and that’s a big question that needs to be answered, as well.

“Speculation has swirled that the Big Ten might want — and might be willing — to sign away its rights to entities that are not ESPN,” the report said. “Imagine a Saturday with a noon game on Fox, an afternoon game on CBS and a night NBC game. If you know ESPN has a vested financial interest in the top teams in other leagues, the source mused, it might make sense to throw your weight behind one of their competitors, thinking that your best inventory would be prioritized.”