The Big Ten Network's Winning Game Plan
When it launched five years ago as the first college conference sports channel as a joint venture between Fox Sports Media Group and the Big Ten Conference, some questioned if the Big Ten Network could produce the programming and ratings to prosper.
But under the stewardship of its president Mark Silverman, the BTN is now a national sports network seen in over 50 million homes (the intro in the video below incorrectly says 40 million homes) with the conference games also available on BTN2Go, one of only two nationally distributed mobile sports services in over 30 million homes. The BTN, the first internationally distributed network dedicated to covering college sports, shows more than 600 events, including football, men?s and women?s basketball, studio and coaches? shows and ?classic? games. The network televises and streams more Olympic sporting events and women?s sports than has ever been aired on any other network.
The BTN and the conference have been cashing in. According to SNL Kagan, the BTN?s revenue should increase from $243 million in 2011 to $262 million this year, with operating income (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) climbing from $79 million to $85 million over the same period. Estimated value of the network: $1.3 billion. This year each Big Ten school will get a $7.2 million distribution from the BTN.
I recently interviewed Silverman for Forbes SportsMoney, the Emmy Award winning show on the YES Network, where he talked about his strategy and his experiences running the network the past five years.
