As we learned more about the new Big Ten TV deal on Monday, one of the interesting nuggets shared by ESPN's Burke Magnus and FOX's Larry Jones was the selection process is literally a draft.
“I think it’s been widely publicized that FOX picks first of the overall inventory, not of the weekly inventory,” Magnus said. “It’s literally a straight-line draft – 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 and 2, 4, 6, 8. We pick selection positions on a particular week, then when you get into the 12-day you pick the game to match that pick. The portfolio of games was pretty equivalent, the difference being FOX takes the No. 1 overall pick on an annual basis.”
With that No. 1 pick FOX chose the Ohio State vs. Michigan game, while ESPN/ABC selected Oklahoma vs. Ohio State with their top selection.
FOX will have the No. 1 pick all six years of the Big Ten deal, which means they will more than likely have the rights to the Ohio State vs. Michigan game each year. In 2016 the game drew 16.84 million viewers, over 6 million more viewers than the next highest rated regular season college football game.
