Big Ten adding 9th game in 2017

[danwismar]

Purdue had been asked by the Big Ten to provide scheduling "flexibility" starting in 2017, and the school has dropped two dates with Cincinnati and a 2017 date with Marshall from their future schedule. The conclusion being drawn is that 2017 is the year the conference will begin a 9-game league schedule.

http://collegefootballtalk.nbcsports.co ... incinnati/

money quote:

Purdue athletic director Morgan Burke said. “We have been asked by the Big Ten Conference to provide some flexibility with our future schedules beginning in 2017, and both Marshall and Cincinnati worked with us to help comply.”

I only post it because the move is not welcome news for Ohio State, because it has the potential to cost them one of their customary eight home games every other year, if the league schedule is to be alternating years with five road games in-conference.

Any team that loses a home date loses some revenue, but when OSU loses 1/8 of their normal game day revenue, it's a lot more money than a smaller school loses for a home date. And those schools don't support 36 different sports on football and B-ball revenue

They're down to seven at home this year (8 in 2012), due to the Miami road trip, but they have that same kind of tough home-and-away series scheduled out for the whole decade...with Cal, V.Tech, Oklahoma, Tenn.

Looks like seven will have to become the new normal, and that's probably a loss of close to $10 million out of a 120 million budget. Ticket sales alone are in the neighborhood of 7 million for a game, by my math.

Not good news for OSU athletics.

[pup]

The NCAA will probably just add another game to the limit by 2017.

[fairvis]

They'll probably just raise ticket prices by ~$10. Would cover the difference. Already have gone up quite a bit over the past few years... my alumni tix (for Wisconsin this year, I got really lucky) were $75 each.

[JCoz]

If that game goes directly to the B10 Network, I'm thinking they will make up that 7 mil and more in shared TV revenue.

[furls]

I doubt that game will drive their share of the B1G revenues up 7Mill, but it is the right thing to do. Maybe now the conference teams will avoid schedulings those damn FCS (I-AA) teams. Delaney needs to direct scUM to stop doing that because they lost to app st. and nearly lost to UMASS.

[JCoz]

I doubt that game will drive their share of the B1G revenues up 7Mill, but it is the right thing to do. Maybe now the conference teams will avoid schedulings those damn FCS (I-AA) teams. Delaney needs to direct scUM to stop doing that because they lost to app st. and nearly lost to UMASS.

Maybe, Maybe not, but 6 big ten games to the network should drive more coverage, more adverts, etc... Might not be 1:1 deal, but it would be good for the network, and its defintely good for the fans in coverage areas, or if it doesn't go to the network better for all fans.

[furls]

It is a good thing for the network and the fans, makes it a bit tougher than for the teams, but it is better for the sport.

[fairvis]

It's official:

http://www.bigten.org/sports/m-footbl/s ... 11aaa.html

So, in 2017, Ohio State will have 5 home conference games, but only 4 in 2018.

Looking at the future schedules, we have 8 home games next year (Cal coming in), 7 in 2013 (return trip to Cal), 7 in 2014 (return trip to Baltimore for Navy), 7 in 2015 (return trip to Virginia Tech) and 7 in 2016 (at Oklahoma).

So, with 2017 having Oklahoma at home and most likely having 2 MAC/Sun Belt teams, we'll have 8 home games for the first time since 2012. What may be interesting is if they talk to Tennessee in 2018, since right now we're scheduled to visit them, and we'd have 5 away conference games... so there would be the potential for only 6 home games over the course of the year.

By the way, here's a good site for future schedules:

http://www.fbschedules.com/ncaa/big-ten ... ckeyes.php

[danwismar]

They'll definitely try to flip those Tennessee games so they're home in 2018 and in Knoxville in '19. No way they have only a six game home schedule.

But seven is the new normal.