Since the Big Ten’s recent expansion is thought to be fueled by Fox (just as the SEC’s expansion last summer was thought to be driven by ESPN), it’s worth examining how the realigned Power Five now stacks up in terms of TV market size.
The Big Ten is currently negotiating its next media rights deal. Its existing deals with ESPN and Fox run through the next academic year, 2022-23. With the addition of UCLA and USC, the Big Ten’s new deal is expected to reach a figure that would just about triple what Pac-12 and ACC schools receive in distribution annually. The Big Ten’s expansion consolidated five of the top 10 TV markets in the country within the same conference.
The question now is what domino will fall next. On Friday morning, Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith said he hopes Notre Dame considers joining the Big Ten, too. Other Pac-12 schools such as Stanford, Cal, Oregon, and Washington have also been linked to the conference’s sudden expansion efforts.
The table below includes future members of the conferences and uses the most recent Nielsen rankings from 2021-22.
| Market | State | TV Households (2021–22) | Expected Conference Fan Affiliations | |
| 1 | New York | New York | 7,452,620 | Big Ten |
| 2 | Los Angeles | California | 5,735,230 | Big Ten |
| 3 | Chicago | Illinois | 3,471,560 | Big Ten |
| 4 | Philadelphia | Pennsylvania | 2,997,360 | Big Ten |
| 5 | Dallas-Fort Worth | Texas | 2,962,520 | SEC, Big 12 |
| 6 | San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose | California | 2,653,270 | Pac-12 |
| 7 | Atlanta | Georgia | 2,648,970 | SEC, ACC |
| 8 | Houston | Texas | 2,569,900 | SEC, Big 12 |
| 9 | Washington (Hagerstown) | District of Columbia | 2,565,580 | Big Ten |
| 10 | Boston (Manchester) | Massachusetts | 2,489,620 | ACC |
| 11 | Phoenix (Prescott) | Arizona | 2,158,240 | Pac-12 |
| 12 | Seattle-Tacoma | Washington | 2,098,800 | Pac-12 |
| 13 | Tampa-St. Petersburg (Sarasota) | Florida | 2,035,250 | Big 12, SEC |
| 14 | Minneapolis-St. Paul | Minnesota | 1,887,390 | Big Ten |
| 15 | Detroit | Michigan | 1,862,620 | Big Ten |
| 16 | Denver | Colorado | 1,798,440 | Pac-12 |
| 17 | Orlando-Daytona Beach-Melbourne | Florida | 1,731,360 | Big 12, SEC |
| 18 | Miami-Fort Lauderdale | Florida | 1,693,450 | ACC |
| 19 | Cleveland-Akron (Canton) | Ohio | 1,511,970 | Big Ten |
| 20 | Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto | California | 1,459,260 | Pac-12 |
| 21 | Portland, OR | Oregon | 1,315,470 | Pac-12 |
| 22 | Charlotte | North Carolina | 1,290,660 | ACC |
| 23 | St. Louis | Missouri | 1,239,210 | SEC |
| 24 | Raleigh-Durham (Fayetteville) | North Carolina | 1,237,230 | ACC |
| 25 | Indianapolis | Indiana | 1,182,500 | Big Ten |
| 26 | Pittsburgh | Pennsylvania | 1,166,130 | ACC |
| 27 | San Diego | California | 1,132,300 | N/A |
| 28 | Baltimore | Maryland | 1,129,830 | Big Ten |
| 29 | Nashville | Tennessee | 1,102,340 | SEC |
| 30 | Salt Lake City | Utah | 1,100,260 | Pac-12, Big 12 |
| 31 | San Antonio | Texas | 1,031,180 | SEC, Big 12 |
| 32 | Hartford-New Haven | Connecticut | 1,002,710 | N/A |
| 33 | Columbus, OH | Ohio | 999,300 | Big Ten |
| 34 | Kansas City | Missouri | 986,160 | Big 12, SEC |
| 35 | Greenville-Spartanburg-Asheville-Anderson | South Carolina | 940,000 | ACC |
| 36 | Cincinnati | Ohio | 925,900 | Big 12 |
| 37 | Milwaukee | Wisconsin | 921,920 | Big Ten |
| 38 | Austin | Texas | 912,400 | SEC |
| 39 | West Palm Beach-Fort Pierce | Florida | 870,720 | ACC |
| 40 | Las Vegas | Nevada | 833,510 | N/A |
| 41 | Grand Rapids-Kalamazoo-Battle Creek | Michigan | 781,080 | Big Ten |
| 42 | Harrisburg-Lancaster-Lebanon-York | Pennsylvania | 772,810 | Big Ten |
| 43 | Jacksonville | Florida | 756,960 | SEC |
| 44 | Oklahoma City | Oklahoma | 755,340 | SEC, Big 12 |
| 45 | Birmingham (Anniston-Tuscaloosa) | Alabama | 730,440 | SEC |
| 46 | Norfolk-Portsmouth-Newport News | Virginia | 725,580 | ACC |
| 47 | Greensboro–High Point-Winston-Salem | North Carolina | 717,110 | ACC |
| 48 | Albuquerque-Santa Fe | New Mexico | 716,800 | N/A |
| 49 | Louisville | Kentucky | 696,070 | ACC |
| 50 | New Orleans | Louisiana | 663,520 | SEC |
| 51 | Memphis | Tennessee | 619,610 | SEC |
| 52 | Providence-New Bedford | Rhode Island | 619,140 | N/A |
| 53 | Buffalo | New York | 612,780 | ACC |
| 54 | Fort Myers-Naples | Florida | 608,640 | SEC |
| 55 | Fresno-Visalia | California | 607,200 | Pac-12, Big Ten |
| 56 | Richmond-Petersburg | Virginia | 585,030 | ACC |
| 57 | Mobile-Pensacola (Fort Walton Beach) | Alabama | 584,290 | SEC |
| 58 | Wilkes-Barre–Scranton–Hazleton | Pennsylvania | 571,470 | Big Ten |
| 59 | Little Rock-Pine Bluff | Arkansas | 562,060 | SEC |
| 60 | Albany-Schenectady-Troy | New York | 556,730 | ACC |
| 61 | Tulsa | Oklahoma | 552,980 | Big 12, SEC |
| 62 | Knoxville | Tennessee | 535,230 | SEC |
| 63 | Lexington | Kentucky | 499,880 | SEC |
| 64 | Tucson (Sierra Vista) | Arizona | 479,780 | Pac-12 |
| 65 | Dayton | Ohio | 476,790 | Big Ten |
| 66 | Spokane | Washington | 470,210 | Pac-12 |
| 67 | Honolulu | Hawaii | 464,090 | N/A |
| 68 | Des Moines-Ames | Iowa | 457,040 | Big Ten |
| 69 | Green Bay-Appleton | Wisconsin | 455,560 | Big Ten |
| 70 | Wichita-Hutchinson | Kansas | 447,710 | Big 12 |
| Expected Conference Fan Affiliations | Total TV Households |
| Big Ten | 35,839,830 |
| SEC | 24,088,240 |
| Pac-12 | 14,140,930 |
| ACC | 16,230,080 |
| Big 12 | 15,098,560 |
| N/A | 4,768,550 |
SEC
- Dallas-Fort Worth (#5)
- Atlanta (#7)
- Houston (#8)
- Nashville (#29)
- San Antonio (#31)
- Austin (#38)
- Oklahoma City (#44)
- Birmingham (Anniston and Tuscaloosa) (#45)
- Knoxville (#62)
- Lexington (#63)
- Columbia, SC (#76)
- Waco-Temple-Bryan (#83)
- Baton Rouge (#94)
- Fort Smith-Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers (#95)
- Montgomery-Selma (#126)
- Columbia-Jefferson City (#135)
- Gainesville (#160)
Big Ten
- New York (#1)
- Los Angeles (#2)
- Chicago (#3)
- Philadelphia (#4)
- Washington, D.C. (#9)
- Minneapolis-St. Paul (#14)
- Detroit (#15)
- Indianapolis (#25)
- Columbus, OH (#33)
- Des Moines-Ames (#68)
- Madison (#81)
- Champaign & Springfield-Decatur (#90)
- Lincoln & Hastings-Kearney (#105)
- Lansing (#115)
- Lafayette, IN (#188)
ACC
- Atlanta (#7)
- Boston (#10)
- Miami-Fort Lauderdale (#18)
- Charlotte (#22)
- Raleigh-Durham (#24)
- Pittsburgh (#26)
- Greenville-Spartanburg-Asheville-Anderson (#35)
- Greensboro-High Point-Winston-Salem (#47)
- Louisville (#48)
- Syracuse (#87)
- South Bend-Elkhart (#98)
- Tallahassee-Thomasville (#108)
- Charlottesville (#177)
Big 12
- Dallas-Fort Worth (#5)
- Houston (#8)
- Orlando/Daytona Beach/Melbourne (#17)
- Salt Lake City (#30)
- Kansas City (#34)
- Cincinnati (#36)
- Oklahoma City (#44)
- Tulsa (#61)
- Des Moines-Ames (#68)
- Waco-Temple-Bryan (#83)
- Topeka (#142)
- Lubbock (#145)
Pac-12
- San Francisco/Oakland (#6)
- Phoenix (#11)
- Seattle (#12)
- Denver (#16)
- Portland (#21)
- Salt Lake City (#30)
- Tucson (#64)
- Spokane (#66)
- Eugene (#113)
The Big Ten now lays claim to eight schools located directly in the nation’s top 25 TV markets. The ACC has five such schools, the Pac-12 has four, the Big 12 has three, and the SEC has just one. But even though Texas and Texas A&M aren’t technically in major TV markets such as Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio, we still included those areas as SEC country because the majority of fans there support them. TV market size doesn’t tell the whole story, of course, as smaller-market schools like LSU and Oregon attract way more viewers than bigger-market schools like Northwestern and Boston College.
The city TV markets are accurate, but the university TV markets are completely skewed. Alumni and fans of a school do not typically live in the city of their school. They spread out, typically within the same state to the major cities. Just to give you some perspective, Washington State University alumni move to the greater Seattle area in much higher numbers than stay in the Pullman area. The WSU TV Market should be only slightly less than the University of Washington based on graduation numbers. The same can be said for Oregon State vs Oregon, Arizona vs Arizona State (which, by the way, is a heavily Spanish-speaking population – likely not American college football fans by majority).
Adding to my clarification, I omitted something.
57. Mobile-Pensacola (Fort Walton Beach) – ACC. SEC
– Sort of weird how you gave this market to Alabama even though the majority of households are in Florida. FSU alumni comprise the largest alumni of any university on the Florida side of the border. Of course, the SEC is strongest here, but we must not ignore the strong FSU presence here.
Sorry to be critical because I know you put lots of effort to compile this. Your conception of the state of Florida’s market-conference expectations is less than half correct.
13.Tampa-St. Petersburg (Sarasota) – ACC, SEC
– I realize that UCF is joining the Big 12, but UCF does not even have the plurality of the Orlando market. Tampa is almost evenly split Florida and Florida State with USF at best 3rd in viewership.
17. Orlando-Daytona Beach-Melbourne – ACC, Big 12, SEC
– Again this is similar to Tampa in the Florida followed closely by FSU own this market. UCF is rising and joining the Big 12 so of course it should be included.
18. Miami-Fort Lauderdale – ACC,… Read more »
Bring in Cal and Standford with the #6 Bay area market. Additionally, bring in Arizona and Arizona St with the #11 Phoenix and #64 Tucson markets. Our east, bring in Syracuse with the #87 market, Boston College with the #10 market, Pitt with the #26 market. Finally, try your best at bringing in Notre Dame and their large television market.
No need to add U Pitt. There’s far more PSU/Big Ten fans living in Western PA than Pitt fans! Just count bumper stickers or empty seats at Heinz Field
This is embarrassing. The Big Ten has become a sell-out. This is degrading the history of the conference. This is degrading the traditions of the conference. This is a slap in the face to every fan who cares about the Big Ten. These conferences were created and set up to be regional and correspond to geography. The Big Ten is for mid-western states; not California.
This is the biggest sell-out of college sports that I have ever seen in my life. I am ashamed. I think this is only going to increase. I believe we will see more PAC12 schools leaving and joining the Big Ten.
This is also going to hurt athletes. They will have to miss… Read more »
It’s called CAPITALISM.
Why settle for less money when you can make more money.
The reality is with the weak NCAA and NIL, playoffs, recruits, money and the very livlihood of teams is on the line right now. The 2 maybe 3 conferences that grab the most television money and best product, will survive realigmnet. The rest will become second tier teams like the G5, or worse. It is time to destroy or be destroyed. Your plan would ensure the destruction of the Big Ten and all of its team.
If AthleteLivesMatter this is good for B1G Athletes. Once the LA schools being a big name in the Big Ten will be big money and not just for the schools. NIL means the wider the market the bigger the possible deals. NIL is currently being used as a recruiting tool. Not all NIL deals have to be about recruiting. It could mean deals with major corporation deals regardless of which Big Ten school you go to.
The other thing is if the B1G wasn’t aggressive it will become a second tier conference and lose Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State for sure. I did think LA after the SEC got Texas. My thoughts was going after Virginia, Kansas, Iowa… Read more »
The Big Ten is likely going to 20 teams now and 24 whenever ACC schools figure out how to get out of their grant of rights.
The conference will add Notre Dame, either now or when the conference goes up to 24. Just a question of how long until ND capitulates.
If ND capitulates now, the conference will add them, Stanford, Washington and Oregon.
If ND holds out, the conference will add Stanford, Washington, Oregon and one of Cal or Arizona. Cal is the better academic fit, but brings less on the revenue side. Cal or Arizona would eventually get an invite, but only when the conference goes to 24.
The conference will eventually add three current… Read more »
Wild speculation but Iowa state and WV to SEC makes sense to me but idk if the SEC would want them. Perhaps OK state will shift to B1G
I don’t think OK State has the academic reputation for the B1G.
Aww it’s cute, you think that matters.
Ok State is going nowhere. They bring nothing to the table… academic or revenue
It does on some level because it is the Big Ten Presidents voting on it. There are quite a few schools in the Big Ten if you took away all athletics it would be just a hiccup. Michigan a big national brand in athletics and athletics gross revenue around 300m. UofM Medicine generates around 5billion last I heard was projected to make a profit around 170m. That is a profit that is over half all athletics generated gross. When you dealing with these major research universities athletics usually is the golden goose. It is advertisement, recruiting tool and entertainment. It isn’t something you looking to make money off of.
What sec team is in San Antonio? Also Dallas/Fort Worth is a 3 1/2 hour car ride to Austin. It’s like saying NYC and Washington DC are the same market since they are a 3 and 1/2 drive from each other.
This is not a list of where schools are located. It is a list of where certain conferences dominate the college sports television markets.
There are lots of colleges in Texas, true, but both Texas and Texas A&M eat up massive pieces of the San Antonio and Dallas markets, and draw a ton of eyeballs in those places.
There are more people watching Texas A&M football in Dallas than there are in College Station. The same is true of Austin/Dallas for Texas. The SEC did not add Texas A&M in 2013 because they were desperate to beam games into the Waco-Temple-Bryan television market.
There are so many transplants in the metroplex. The area has changed so much over the last 20 years. Go to a Cowboys game it’s embarrassing half the audience is rooting for the opponent. You didn’t see that years ago, I drive around my neighborhood and you see a lot of Steelers, packers and patriots flags. Sure there is a following for a&m and Texas in the metroplex but it’s far from homogeneous. Not all the eyeballs are on these two schools.