It also likely to stoke the ongoing discussion over how institutions should handle student athletes who get no financial compensation. The agreement comes at a moment of extreme change in collegiate athletics and shows television networks’ ambition to profit from America’s massive hunger for sports.
The Big Ten is emulating a method that the N.F.L. used to establish itself as the richest sports league in North America. It will divide football games across three broadcast networks beginning with the 2023 season, with Fox, CBS, and NBC each possessing coveted time periods. How effective this tactic will be will only be clear with time.
