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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowESPN is reportedly set to pay close to $200 million per year for the secondary media rights of the Big Ten Conference, according to a Monday morning report by Sports Business Journal.
All in all, the Big Ten's new television-media rights deals with ESPN, Fox and CBS Sports would pay the league a whopping $2.64 billion over the next six years. The new deal goes into effect next fall and it would nearly triple the average media rights payout.
According to sources in the report, ESPN will continue to carry Big Ten games on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2, but the number of games on ESPNU will decrease.
The Big Ten reached a six-year deal with Fox a few months back that would pay the league $240 million per season for its first half media rights, which included carrying the league's conference football championship. CBS will continue to carry the Big Ten men's basketball tournament.
According to the latest federal income tax reports, the Big Ten made $448 million in total revenue—second behind on the SEC—with each school receiving an average of $32.4 million per year. Those numbers will surely continue to climb under this new media rights deal.
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