Since the Big Ten’s new media rights deals with Fox, CBS, and NBC began in 2023, one of the biggest mysteries for college football fans has been how exactly the networks divvy up the games.
Small details have been revealed in the last couple of years. We know that Fox gets the first three selections as the conference’s lead partner, but little else was known about the process.
But in a new piece from Scott Dochterman in The Athletic, network executives spoke to their strategies surrounding the Big Ten’s TV draft, and how the conference’s football schedule comes together from a television perspective.
The Big Ten’s process is unique because, unlike other conferences, rights to its top games are split between three different networks. The SEC and ACC are exclusively broadcast by ESPN (aside from a small package of lower-tier ACC games on The CW). The Big 12 has deals with ESPN, Fox, and TNT, but the quality of game is largely accounted for within the contracts.
As one could imagine, networks prepare for the Big Ten draft like an NFL team would prepare for the NFL Draft. Programming staffers compile extensive research that includes dates of matchups and locations, player and coaching movements, rival networks’ programming schedules, and more.
“We’re doing our due diligence from start to finish, and we take our time doing it. This is not something that we just open up some materials a day or two beforehand. This is months and months in the making,” CBS Sports programming executive Dan Weinberg told The Athletic.
Mock drafts are also a big part of networks’ preparations.
“We divide our team into playing multiple roles,” NBC Sports programming executive Justin Byczek told The Athletic. “Some people will go into a room and ‘Go act like Fox. Go figure out what Fox is going to do. And if you’re CBS, what’s important for you?’ Then this group will kind of be the NBC group. We found that doing that repetition and doing those things countless times, you start to see different patterns emerge.”
Selection is a complex process. Rather than picking specific games to air, networks select specific dates in which they’ll get first pick of that day’s games at a later point during the season. That complicates things, and adds another element of strategy to the draft.
Per Dochterman, along with the first three date selections, Fox gets five of the first 11 picks. CBS and NBC split the other six down the middle, rotating each year which network gets the fourth overall selection.
And just like drafts in professional sports leagues, trades are allowed. Last year, for instance, Fox traded its third overall pick to NBC, which ended up being Ohio State-Oregon, while Fox took the fifth pick (and presumably moved up later in the draft) and selected the date for Ohio State-Penn State.
Perhaps the most interesting revelation from Doctherman’s piece, however, is exactly how the draft is run.
For all of the NFL Draft critics that make the “this could’ve been an email” jokes every year, the Big Ten TV draft might be more your speed. The selections are literally conducted over email.
Each network assembles its team, sometimes virtually, sometimes all together in a conference room, and eagerly awaits selections from the other networks. “We hold our breath waiting for every pick,” Weinberg said. “And I think if my colleagues at Fox and NBC were being honest, they’d say the same thing.”
An email comes in, and jubilation or disappointment ensues.
And while each selection has actual implications on game quality and ratings throughout the season, most involved can acknowledge the fun in the process. After all, it’s likely the closest anyone will ever get to feeling like a real general manager on a real professional sports franchise.
“I’ve never been in an NFL Draft board room, but I imagine it’s pretty similar, right?” Fox Sports analytics executive Mike Mulvihill told The Athletic.
The stakes are real, but the experience is enjoyable. And just like drafts in professional sports leagues, nobody knows how their selections will shake out until the season begins.
