If ESPN isn't the answer for the Big Ten, what is? You might not like the answer.
In part one, I discussed why Big Ten fans might feel reluctant to continue watching games on ESPN after recent programming and marketng decisions. The question now is how the Big Ten should negotiate its next television rights package, which ends after the 2016-17 season. Currently, the conference is in the second-to-last season of a 10-year, $1 billion rights deal with ESPN (along with a smaller $72 million deal with CBS for college hoops). According to SBJ's John Ourand, an expert on sports media, Jim Delany and company will begin negotiating the next rights package this spring.