(05-17-2017 01:37 PM)YNot Wrote:  

(05-17-2017 01:09 PM)stever20 Wrote:  Big Ten title game last year was #6. Even in a down year for the SEC, the SEC title game was #2- with 1.9 more viewers. In 2015, the Big Ten title game wasn't even in the top 10 for the year. The problem with your logic is that Fox ISN'T guaranteed the top 2 games.

Referring to the top-2 B1G games and 2 of the biggest CFB games...FOX has guaranteed itself the top 2 B1G games - the topic discussed in this thread.

(05-17-2017 01:09 PM)stever20 Wrote:  I really don't think casual fans give a damn about who owns the Big Ten Network. Big Ten fans are going to watch Big Ten football, no matter if it's on ESPN, Fox, FS1, Big Ten Network, or the Lifetime Network. Casual fans aren't going to all of a sudden turn into the Big Ten Network to watch a dog Big Ten game because of the Big Ten being on Fox or FS1.

The casual fan might not care, but FOX absolutely does. There will be extensive cross-promotion and FOX will exploit this to the fullest. A Penn St. fan who watches Rutgers-PSU on B1GN will see the promotion of USC-Stanford or Ohio st.-Michigan St. or Texas-WVU for later broadcast on FOX or FS1. The cross-promotion will make a difference for FOX/FS1 grabbing casuals fans.

Fox isn't guaranteed the top 2 Big Ten games though. I mean this year, it's VERY possible that Penn St/Michigan is the biggest game of the year. And that looks like it will be on ABC/ESPN.

As far as the Big Ten Network scenario that you mention- generally speaking, they would be a hard core Big Ten football fan. So they aren't going to care at all about a USC/Stanford or Texas/WVU game. They would care about the OSU/MSU game- but that would be regardless of where it is at. And casual fans watching a Big Ten game on Fox or FS1 aren't going to watch a dog game on the Big Ten network just because it's advertised there.