Just a couple of weeks after initial reports emerged suggesting NBC was looking to sell broadcast rights to the Big Ten Championship game in 2026, it appears the network hasn’t let up, despite opposition from a rival network.
According to a report by Puck sports correspondent John Ourand, NBC is “still talking” with Amazon’s Prime Video about sublicensing rights to next year’s Big Ten Championship game. It’s the only year in which NBC holds the rights to the conference’s title game throughout the course of its seven-year pact.
The interesting twist in this scenario, however, is that NBC’s Big Ten deal is practically a sublicense in it of itself. Fox, which owns a majority stake in the Big Ten Network, controlled media rights for the conference during the latest round of negotiations. As such, Fox would have the final sign off on any potential deal between NBC and Prime Video.
Per Ourand, NBC “is seeking somewhere in the neighborhood of $70 million for the 2026 game.”
There is an opening, however, for a deal to get done, Ourand suggests. Fox’s new streaming service, Fox One, has a substantial business through Amazon Channels. Per the latest data, approximately 60% of Fox One subscribers purchase the streamer through the Amazon platform. This could create “some triangular negotiating opportunities,” Ourand posits. Mike Hopkins, the head of Prime Video, spent 17 years at Fox, which could also help move things along.
NBC sees next year’s title game as an attractive asset to sell because it’s the only time the network will have it under its current deal, thus there’s little opportunity to leverage the game for higher distribution fees or beefed-up advertising packages. NBC has also been active in purchasing sports rights recently, adding over $2 billion in rights fees for its new NBA package, and $200 million for its upcoming MLB package. Selling the Big Ten Championship game for $70 million can help offset those other expensive rights deals, at least for a year.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.