ESPN ending 40-year Big Ten relationship, while Apple and Amazon hunt streaming rights - reports
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ESPN (NYSE:DIS) is ending a 40-year partnership with the Big Ten college sports conference, as it's pulled out of negotiations for media rights to the league's sports, according to reports.
That puts an end to one of the longest sports rights partnerships - and it opens the door for some new partners, notably CBS (PARA) (PARAA) and NBC (CMCSA), who could join Fox Sports (FOX) (FOXA) starting with the 2023-2024 school year.
The price got too high for ESPN, which expected it would have to pay $380M or more to retain rights to just the linear TV games in a seven-year package, Sports Business Journal reports.
Now CBS (PARA) (PARAA) is expected to carry a Big Ten football game in the 3:30 p.m. Saturday window, while NBC (CMCSA) would pick up a game in prime time, as well as a number of exclusives for its Peacock streaming service (which will also simulcast the NBC games). CBS and NBC are reported to be paying about $350M for their packages.
Fox Sports (FOX) (FOXA) will retain the games in the noon Saturday window, while FS1 and BTN will carry some games.
Meanwhile, on the direct-to-consumer rights that are being separated from linear TV, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) are thick in the Big Ten talks, according to The Athletic - though it's not yet clear who could prevail.
Amazon's Prime Video was long considered the favorite for Big Ten streaming rights, according to the report, but Apple rejoined talks after the bombshell announcement that Pac-12 stalwarts USC and UCLA were joining the Big Ten.