The Big Ten is going for the home run of east coast television markets. New York City, all of New Jersey, plus Philadelphia, Baltimore, D.C, and so on.
I don't know what you mean by that. Anyways, the Big Ten (via Big Ten Network) gets $0.10 per every cable/satellite subscriber (monthly) in "out of market" territory, and $0.80 per every cable/satellite subscriber (monthly) "in market". Those territories are currently out of market. If Maryland and Rutgers join the Big Ten, then those territories mentioned in the east become in-market, and the Big Ten will get 8 times the amount of revenue ($0.80 instead of $0.10, monthly) from every cable/satellite subscriber in that expanded footprint east. So again, I don't know how you can compare this with the ACC. The ACC doesn't have their own conference network that they own. The Big Ten does, with the Big Ten Network, and this will yield close to $100 million more dollars per year in revenue, at least that's what the early indications show, is that it will yield almost that much more in TV revenue. $0.70 more per month added on ($0.80 instead of $0.10) from each subscriber monthly = $8.40 more per year from each subscriber in that territory, added on as additional to what the Big Ten currently gets right now. Multiply that by millions (we'll say 10 million) cable/satellite subscribers in the east, in the expanded footprint for the Big Ten network "in market". $8.40 * 10 million subscribers = $84 million more in revenue per year, for the Big Ten, to be divided by each conference member equally. The Big Ten currently gets about $300 million in TV revenue before this expansion. So you can see why it's lucrative for them to add in Maryland and Rutgers, to boost the already current $300 million per year to almost $400 million per year in total TV revenue, with the $84 million added on. $300 million / 12 schools = $25 million per school, per year (I actually think it was closer to $26 million last year) $384 million / 14 schools = almost $27.5 million per school Hence, it's worth the Big Ten to go after Maryland and Rutgers. Each school in the conference gets richer.
So . . . why do I feel like this is a GREAT move for Rutgers, but kind of a desperate money grab for Maryland?
Well, the EADA database most recent report shows Rutgers had total annual sports revenues of just under $31 million and total sports expenses of well over $57 million. Maybe they don't need it, but $27 million in extra tv money seems more than coincidental. And considering superstore Sandy cleanup will be an issue for years to come, perhaps the State's concepts on what is an acceptable deficit have changed.