Evil genius or just plain evil — ask around to anyone in Big Ten country and there isn’t much middle ground of opinion on Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany. Whatever your opinion is, the fact remains that Delany has a plan and he’s working it to masterful precision so far.
On Tuesday, the latest example of Delany’s long-term plan coming together happened. Deals for the Big Ten Network to be carried on two of the largest carries in the New York/New Jersey market — Time Warner Cable and Cablevision — were announced by NJ.com’s Steve Politi. According to the NJ.com report, Comcast is also expected to be added to the mix before the football season.
With the availability already there on DirecTV and FiOS, that is four of the five biggest carries in the market. It means that Rutgers will have its first two games of the Big Ten season available without prolonged contract negotiations, like many critics thought would happen.
That’s likely because Delany and the folks at BTN made the new schools a big priority.
“It is our number one priority this year to integrate Rutgers and Maryland into the Big Ten Network and make high-quality programming for both schools,” Silverman told The Star-Ledger.
Remember the days of hoping and praying the Big Ten didn’t put Wisconsin games on BTN because certain providers had yet to add the channel? Jim Delany was roundly criticized at the time for the failure to exert enough pressure to get BTN up on all services right away.
Well, the conference and Delany sure have come a long way in just eight short years.
Let’s not forget that when Rutgers’ addition to the conference was announced, the immediate reaction was “good luck getting your network on television in NYC.”
Too bad all the so-called experts never bothered to figure out that Jim Delany gets what he wants, especially with eight years of experience in television negotiations. After all, BTN isn’t available in 19 of the top 20 television markets in the United States by accident.
Add today’s news with that last figure and tell me again how bad Jim Delany is doing for the Big Ten?
In an ideal world, most in the Midwest would dream of the Big Ten going back to a ten-team league living and dying with Ohio State or Michigan winning a national title. But, the reality is, this isn’t the 1980’s and without moving forward the Big Ten was going to get left in the economic and competitive dust.
Besides, as Wisconsin fans, do we really want to relive the Big 2-little 8 decades? Give me the competition and competitiveness that the Big Ten has seen over the last 25 years please — and most of that is thanks to the monetary vision that Jim Delany has had in his tenure as conference commissioner.
Like it or not, the Big Ten is a Mid-Coast conference now, and those that said Delany would have issues getting BTN on NYC cable networks were proved wrong on Tuesday.
So far, Jim Delany’s move to the East Coast appears to be working, especially when you take the on-field situation out of the equation.
In recruiting, television dollars and not being land-locked as a conference — Delany and Co. are winning in a major way with these two additions.
Let’s not forget that for the long-suffering Big Ten fans in the second largest alumni market in the country, Tuesday’s announcement was likely met with rejoice.
Tuesday’s announcement also serves as a reminder to folks in the Midwest that not everything in the conference is about them anymore. Maybe it’s time to be thankful for what Jim Delany and Co. have done to keep this conference at the forefront of collegiate athletics?
I’m sure that no one would be bitching if Delany adhered to every fan poll and popular sentiment he’s ever heard over the last 25 years, right?
Actually, what I’m more sure of is that folks in the Midwest would find a way to slam Delany for not having the vision to keep up with the Joneses and making Big Ten football an afterthought on the national level.
I’m also sure they’d slam him for not doing enough to deal with national demographic shifts and sitting on the sidelines as the ACC and SEC benefited from rich recruiting areas in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia.
Sure, there is a long way to go before declaring Delany’s East Coast expansion a success but round one goes to Delany and the conference over the critics, and fans on the East Coast are the ultimate winners.
Now it’s on the new schools and the rest of the league to match the riches gained with championships on the field and court, otherwise does all of this even matter?
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