SEC Approaches Expansion, Network Differently than Big Ten

Our friend Clay Travis, attorney, author of "Dixieland Delight" and a veritable expert on the SEC, had an interesting take on the SEC's expansion to 14 teams on his website Outkick the Coverage this week.

His article, entitled "What's the SEC Network Worth? Try a Billion Dollars a Year" attempts to quantify the additions of Missouri and Texas A&M to the SEC based on the additional TV homes that the states will add to their network's footprint. In short, a regional sports network can charge a higher rate to cable customers in states that feature schools in the conference than those that do not, based on the increased interest level.

His take got me thinking more about the Big Ten's approach to expansion. Many (including me) speculated at the time that the Big Ten was likely to look to expand its geographic footprint and the number of TV homes within the conference's footprint by targeting a school in a heavily populated state such as Rutgers or Missouri.

New Jersey boasts 3.74 million TV homes (2.67 million cable TV homes, ranking eighth among all states), and using Travis' conservative estimate of $2 per month per HH could have potentially added more than $64.3 million in direct revenue for the Big Ten Network (now BTN). The state of Missouri includes 2.38 TV homes (including more than 1.1 million with cable) and would have also expanded the conference's geographic footprint into a neighboring state. (Source: The Nielsen Company, Media Related Universe Estimates: May 2011).

However, the Big Ten took the opposite approach, selecting the best athletic program available, Nebraska. Nebraska ranks 4th in all-time football wins, along with Big Ten counterparts Michigan (1st), Ohio State (5th) and Penn State (6th), and ranks ninth in all-time winning percentage.

The conference's rationale was that match-ups between Nebraska and Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio State, for example, were much more enticing for both viewers and potential sponsors than Rutgers vs. Wisconsin or Missouri vs. Ohio State.

The conference also figured that although Nebraska's paltry 707,000 TV homes (less than 500,000 with cable) wouldn't provide much direct revenue for the network, it was the right long-term decision.

Without faulting the SEC's approach, it is likely that the Big Ten will find that both their brand and the value of their biggest asset, BTN, will continue to rise based on that decision and long-term approach.

Now if we can just get them to fix the awkward divisional alignment and names...