Sucks both of our biggest conference games of the year are both at noon.
SIAP: PSU vs Mich is Big Noon Kick on Fox
- Thread starter MWes11
- Start date
What's disappointing is that there really haven't been a lot of great games so far this season all over college football, and it seems like the the ones that have a chance to be good are mostly being shown at 12:00 p.m. rather than later in the day or in the evening when more people would watch. In the past, except for OU-Texas and UM-OSU, the biggest games of the weekend always have been either at 3:30 p.m. or 7:00 p.m.
That's where Fox puts its biggest games. SEC usually has the biggest 3:30 games.
Better to attract 10 million viewers at noon than 7 million at 3:30.
NBC wanted to make it the Whiteout but scUM refused to play claiming a bullshit "right of refusal" that absolutely did not exist and causing NBC to file a breach complaint with the new b1g Commissioner and threaten to withhold a large sum of money (to the tune of $5mm per school) from their new "Saturday Night Football" contract with the b1g. It has sadly never been disclosed how this issue was ultimately resolved financially with NBC & B1G and weather scUM's breach financially harmed the other members.
ND-duhO$U was a 7:30 kick. The best SEC games are 3:30 or PT kicks. It's only the b1g sabotaging the new Primetime
"Saturday Night Football" contract they just signed with NBC this year.... and NBC filed a breach complaint with b1g about it and have said they are not honoring the contractual $$$ as a result.
Incorrect. FOX had the top 3 choices in the Big Ten in 2024 and chose UM/tOSU, PSU/tOSU, and PSU/UM. There were no home non-conference of any value so it is no surprise that is what FOX went with.
NBC never had a chance to carry that game.
CBS puts their top game at 3:30 (SEC)
ABC (Disney) tends to put their top game at 7:30/8:00 PM
FOX saw the 12:00 PM window was consistently light and so took the opportunity to dominate that TV window by putting their best game in the slot every week. And it has worked for FOX, as they have gotten better ratings in that slot now then there were getting from slots later in the day competing with CBS and ABC (and ND games on NBC) in the past.
Not incorrect, NBC said they were promised premier matchups in their new contract and specifically referenced scUM's AD refusing to play at night in Nov claiming a right of refusal that did not in fact exist - this caused NBC to file a breach grievance with the b1g and notified the Conference they were withholding/reducing payments to the Conference under their new "Saturday Night Football" contract with the b1g (the impact of those reduced payments were estimated to be as much as $5 million per school). It has never been disclosed what settlement the b1g and NBC arrived at and what the financial impact was to each program.
Correct that Michigan expressed a lack of desire to play at night in November. Incorrect that UM/PSU was slated to be on NBC; NBC never had a shot at that particular game.
It was reported that NBC stated that scUM refused to play a night game in Nov claiming a right of refusal that they did not have (and the scUM AD confirmed the conversation insisting they did have a right of refusal that they did not contractually have - b1g TV contracts are negotiated by the b1g, they don't need scUM's permission to negotiate Nov night games with NBC!). It was also reported, and confirmed, that NBC filed a contractual grievance and was seeking financial compensation estimated impact was ~$5 million per school. Are you really trying to claim this wasn't documented and well reported just prior to season starting?
I heard that Fox gets good ratings for their Big Noon games. Great business decision. I just hope with CBS and NBC in the mix we have an opportunity to play Mich or OSU at a time other than Noon. This year is terrible from that perspective because the 3 games played amongst us all are far and away the most attractive B10 games so a no brainer they are all Big Noon games.
The big drawback to this is we are stuck playing Iowa in a Whiteout meanwhile we have Mich at home and it is at Noon. I know Mich did not want to play at night in Nov. I wonder if the opportunity was there to have the Mich game be the whiteout (TV media cooperated) would it have happened or can Mich just veto that because it would be a night game in Nov?
Your disconnect here is that Michigan has more than 1 game in November. Michigan pushing back on November night games does not guarantee that the PSU game was going to be on NBC at night, but Michigan nixed it.
Are we back at this again? Lol
NBC got so upset that Michigan wouldn't play a night game that they gave up the game altogether?
NBC got so upset that Michigan wouldn't play a night game that they gave up the game altogether?
Because Mich was afraid it would become the White Out…. which they totally fear.💀
certainly if psu is "all that", they don't need to depend on the gimmicky crutch of a white out at night...great spectacle, but you guys really need to stop whining about this every two years..
Sadly, it has never been disclosed what the ultimate financial settlement was that was reached between NBC & the b1g or what the impact was per school.
If Fox had the rights to it, there was little chance of that happening (though we'll likely never know for sure, since it's all worked out behind closed doors).
The cliff notes is that the Big Ten had agreed with all schools years ago that there would be no night games after week 10 (usually the first weekend in November).
As part of the new agreement, it's reported that Warren negotiated with NBC to allow night games all season, but never actually told the schools about it beforehand. It was reported that Michigan pushed back on the basis that it was already agreed that they wouldn't need to host (or play away for) night games late in the season.
Sounds like Warren also sold the rights to NBC for the Big Ten Championship game in 2026, even though Fox/BTN already owned those rights...really just sounds like it was a cluster-&*^% all around with this negotiation, especially on the communication front.
NBC did end up getting November night games as some teams made concessions, and nothing has been reported on where things landed financially. I'd be interested to know what our take was on the Michigan St Friday night game, and if we would have gone along with it if things had moved forward in East Lansing, rather than moving to Detroit.
Michigan wasn't the only school that complained and I've never seen any indication of an actual "penalty" that had to be paid - more that the contract was finalized with specific terms agreeable to all parties (at the time, the final contract was not completed).
also, it hasn't been confirmed (since any given week the choices can change) but Brett McMurphy released a list of tentative games on NBC this season and it included Michigan hosting Purdue in November at night.
Here is an excerpt from an industry article:
Hhhhmmmm....., most industry professionals believe scUM is full of shit, playing dumb and screwing the rest of the members of financially out of pure self-interest - go figure.
From what you posted..."Either Kevin Warren went completely rogue or Michigan's AD is playing dumb here."...hasn't everything else we've heard here lead to believe that the first option is very likely true? Wasn't it reported that he negotiated a Big Ten Title Game to NBC that had already previously been sold? And, wasn't it reported that even though most thought the deals were completed, they were actually never fully approved/signed, and were still a work in progress?
Honestly, it's hard to take any of our "unbiased" opinions seriously when you resort to calling the school in question "scUM". Take off the blinders, and maybe you'll realize that Michigan might not be the ones at fault in this instance.
I actually don't agree. On the topic of the CCG on NBC... FOX was in the room so it's impossible for them to not have known that. The BTN is technically the rights holder for all conference games, so FOX was involved in all negotiations, even with competing networks.
And Apparently the universities did sign off on the TV deal and give Warren the power to agree to those terms - now was that the individual school presidents or their reps, I don't know - so the "fault" lies moreso with the reps from each university not discussing/clearing with the Athletic Directors or coaches, etc. Which I don't really think is a fault as much as just a lack of communication. Everyone and their brother knew the new deal would abolish the previous "veto" on November games so it's really just ADs/coaches being willfully ignorant.
Though again, it wasn't just Michigan complaining.
You have no proof that Kevin Kevin Warren didn't have the authority to sell the Conference CG to NBC. The rights had not been sold - the rights belonged to BTN, not FOX. FOX is the primary owner of a Collegiate Conferences Network - that doesn't make them the owner of the rights. In fact, it is a conflict of interest for NBC to claim they are going to negotiate in the best interests of THE CONFERENCE as primary owner, but then not negotiate an "arms length" contract and engage in self-dealing regarding the Conference's CG. The cure for this is quite clear - the Conference Commissioner negotiates the NEW CONTRACT with FOX, NBC and CBS. You're full of it that FOX can say with a straight face that they will negotiate with themselves, NBC and CBS on behalf of the Conference and in the Conference's best interest - utterly laughable to claim they can. BTW, you seem to have skipped this part of the industry expert's statement in your zeal to pin it on Warren:
BTW, why was Michigan named as the only school that refused NBC???
I pulled that from this article, which cites Pete Thamel...
In fact, according to Thamel, Big Ten schools are looking at more than $70 million in disappearing revenue from the TV contract situation. The league will have to pay FOX back nearly $40 million after Warren promised NBC the Big Ten title game in 2026.
Turns out, it is the FOX-owned Big Ten Network that holds all conference media rights for the foreseeable future, not the Big Ten, requiring a sub-license agreement with the other networks. It’s also caused confusion and the current mess the conference finds itself in.
ESPN report: Michigan pushes back on Big Ten’s plan for November night games
"NBC was surprised, and I was surprised," athletic director Warde Manuel recently told the network.
And not saying that we should take anything that Pete Thamel (or anyone for that matter) says on this matter, since everything appears to be off the record. Which is part of why I find the claims that it's a fact that Michigan vetoed our whiteout game as quite questionable.
And here was the original Thamel article...
www.espn.com
And here was the original Thamel article...
How an unfinished TV deal led to an unexpectedly hectic first month for the new Big Ten commissioner
New Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti has been sprinting to finish his league's massive TV deal -- and key athletic directors and coaches aren't happy with the details.
And not saying that we should take anything that Pete Thamel (or anyone for that matter) says on this matter, since everything appears to be off the record. Which is part of why I find the claims that it's a fact that Michigan vetoed our whiteout game as quite questionable.
And here was the original Thamel article...
How an unfinished TV deal led to an unexpectedly hectic first month for the new Big Ten commissioner
New Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti has been sprinting to finish his league's massive TV deal -- and key athletic directors and coaches aren't happy with the details.
Again, why is scUM the only school referenced by the NBC source that refused to play a Nov night game causing NBC to demand financial compensation due to breach of contract???
From the Thamel article..."Multiple sources told ESPN there's been pushback from a number of schools, including Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State, to play those late-November night games under the new contract. "
It also mentioned that "While this is being worked through, Ohio State, Penn State and Michigan State recently agreed to concessions to make short-term sacrifices to help the league make up for some lost revenue from the NBC deal." Why would Ohio St/Michigan St be making "concessions" to play a November night game if they no longer have any say in it? Obviously, things weren't fully ironed out and clear cut with the new deal, otherwise playing when you're told to play if you don't have a choice isn't making a "concession".
And if I'm NBC, why wouldn't I ask for money back? It's part of negotiating, if the deal wasn't finalized/signed.
You say what Thamel says making a general comment, but ignore that NBC only names one school refusing to play a Nov Primetime game demanding reparations as a breach of contract they just signed - there is also only one AD quoted defending his refusal to NBC.
Exactly. I don’t get all the complaining and moaning about a noon kick-off game.
It does not matter! Winning the game is what matters.
Yea, PSU should have no say in when their home games kick off - scUM via a compliant b1g will determine that..... Good Lord this shitbag Conference is pathetic.
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Who is whining, just pointing out the humor of Michigan doing everything they can do to avoid it.
Yep…most conferences just let you play games whenever you like, with no regard at all for TV contracts.
We could go independent and do the same, though there are 55+ million reasons why we wouldn’t each year.
