[Sam Hall]

BTN's value to league members rising
Posted by: Steve Sipple on July 19, 2011 at 1:37PM CST

The Illinois athletic department and other Big Ten members (except newcomer Nebraska) will share significantly more revenue from the conference this year, thanks largely to the success of the Big Ten Network, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

The conference will pay Illinois a record $22.6 million, with $7.9 million coming from the network, according to figures provided by the university. That's a 21 percent increase over last year's $6.5 million share from the BTN.

Other schools in the conference will receive similar payouts because the Big Ten has a balanced revenue-sharing system. Although the Big Ten does not announce or comment on figures, it is generally considered the richest conference in the country.

Nebraska will receive a full share of conference revenue starting in 2015.

According to The Post-Dispatch, the Southeastern Conference distributed an average of $18.3 million to each of its member schools for 2010-11. The Big 12 divvied $145 million among its members for an average of a little more than $12 million.

The Big Ten Network continued to see its revenue grow in 2010. It generated $227 million as advertising revenue jumped 22 percent over 2009 based on statistics from industry analyst Derek Baine of SNL Kagan.

The breakdown of the Big Ten's payment to Illinois includes $16.6 million from television, of which $8.2 million comes from ESPN and ABC. Thus, the BTN, which has been on the air four years, has nearly matched the more established networks in its ability to fill university coffers.

Estimates by SNL Kagan suggest the network will continue to be a boon for the Big Ten. By 2015, the BTN is projected to generate $333 million -- good news for Nebraska, obviously.

http://my.journalstar.com/post/Huske...rs_rising.html

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