NU's revenue in the Big 10 - lacking in comparrison

[StPaulHusker]

 

 

 

And it's likely that Big Ten newcomers Rutgers and Maryland -- both in major TV markets -- will get more money in their first year than Nebraska did.

 

 

Really? Seems like it should depend on viewership rather than footprint size. As for viewership, you can't tell me that more people watch Rutgers or Maryland football on TV than Nebraska. Maryland might have a bigger TV draw in basketball than us. Might. But in overall athletics I'll bet far more people watch NU than either Maryland or Rutgers.

 

But it's not about viewership. It's about having the BTN added to the cable packages. So it is being paid for regardless of who is watching.

 

 

But it sorta is about viewership. I live in Illinois. I get BTN to watch Husker sports. I couldn't care less about Illinois sports, even though I live in Illinois territory. (If there is such a thing. lol) I would bet there are Husker fans all over the nation who get BTN to watch Nebraska. Nebraska has a lot of expatriates.

 

When it comes to the money from the cable companies, it isn't about viewership.

 

Let's say between 8-10 million cable/dish subscribers in the Rutgers and Maryland footprint. Prior to them joining the B1G, BTN was not available in that area. So BTN goes and negotiates a contract with cable and dish providers to put the channel on a specific tier of a cable package. They then charge the cable and dish companies for the channel. Cable and dish companies then in turn raise the rate of the tier or package to the subscriber regardless of whether they even turn to that channel ever.

 

BTN gets to charge $1.00 per subscriber per month for their channel to be on in that area. In NY/NJ alone it is estimated at 4-5 million subscribers to this tier/package. That's $48-$60 million dollars per year just for Rutgers being in the BTN. Doesn't matter if anyone watched them play Penn State or not.

 

Now, the viewership is a question because of advertising dollars being spent. BTN has made sure so far that Rutgers and Maryland games are against top name schools who no doubt have alumni living in these areas so that they are virtually guaranteed people watching.

 

It's estimated that BTN could make as much as $200 million dollars annually from televising on the East Coast when it is all said and done. And that could be on the low end.

 

People can say what they want about Delany screwing up scheduling, division names, trophy concepts, etc. But this guy knows money and markets and I am glad he is on our side.