4M-viewer games in the B1G since 2021
Given the low-level talk about Michigan leaving the Big Ten, I decided to go back and make a half-assed effort to count the number of 4M-viewer games participated in by each member of the conference since 2021. (You can read more about the Four Million Club metric here: Staples: Why would the Big Ten form an alliance with the ACC and Pac-12? It’s all about TV’s ‘Four Million Club’.) Here's what I found:
Take this with a grain of salt, since a 4M-viewer in-conference game gets counted here by each team participating. But Michigan's total makes up more than 20 percent of the current Big Ten total, and the four Pac‑12 schools joining the conference next year combined only match Michigan's total.
I don't have any idea whether that makes it more or less likely that Michigan leaves the Big Ten, or which side has more leverage. (I'd suppose it would depend on where Michigan would land if they leave?) But maybe it'll add some context the next time you hear someone say the Big Ten doesn't need Michigan.
November 15th, 2023 at 5:20 PM ^
Rutgers not bringing in that NYC TV market...
November 15th, 2023 at 5:27 PM ^
Yup. Maryland and Rutgers aren’t pulling in enough eyeballs. The conference should go grab FAU, Georgia State, and Rice to get the Florida, Georgia, and Texas eyeballs.
November 15th, 2023 at 5:53 PM ^
They do snitch tho'.
November 15th, 2023 at 7:09 PM ^
They diluted all of our big ten shares down.
November 15th, 2023 at 7:43 PM ^
They do, just not for their games 😂
November 15th, 2023 at 8:49 PM ^
In fairness, the goal was never to get people to watch Rutgers, just to make NYC cable providers have to carry BTN.
November 15th, 2023 at 10:22 PM ^
I think Rutgers-Maryland allowed B1G to get into the homes of those cable markets. And allowed the resident alumni of the rest of the schools to tune-in. They are just foot-stools to get more eyeballs.
November 15th, 2023 at 11:02 PM ^
It's a viewership Rutger.
November 15th, 2023 at 5:20 PM ^
But maybe it'll add some context the next time you hear someone say the Big Ten doesn't need Michigan.
Has anyone actually said this? If someone suggested it, the proper course of action is to laugh in their face and walk away, not attempt to convince a deranged person to accept reality.
November 15th, 2023 at 5:29 PM ^
people say it on twitter, but twitter is sometimes fun and informative but mostly hot garbage meant to make people mad
November 15th, 2023 at 5:37 PM ^
See above, re: deranged people.
November 15th, 2023 at 5:30 PM ^
I've seen people on Twitter and heard people on radio claim that Michigan does not benefit the BigTen and/or BigTen wouldn't miss a beat without Michigan.
November 15th, 2023 at 5:37 PM ^
See above, re: deranged people.
November 15th, 2023 at 6:58 PM ^
Brian and Seth are on twitter.
November 15th, 2023 at 7:10 PM ^
Add 3 decent out of conference teams on the schedule and we are dead even with OSU.
November 15th, 2023 at 8:32 PM ^
Agree. Osu has three more because they had decent OOC opponents (ND) last two years and UM didn't.
November 16th, 2023 at 10:25 AM ^
UCLA game would have been 4M. Next year the Texas game will be like 8 million. USC, Oregon, Washington... so people think B10 wouldn't love the money from those games?
They're fucking stupid.
November 15th, 2023 at 5:32 PM ^
Would be curious how many 4+ mil games didn’t involve Michigan or OSU.
November 15th, 2023 at 5:48 PM ^
One dollar says no more than 30.
November 15th, 2023 at 6:39 PM ^
Michigan + Ohio state have been in like 41 games over 4mil. This should be 39 games that are with other ppl. There are 48 other games that other teams have had 4mil viewers. That leaves 9 games, with 11 being accounted for by psu.
November 15th, 2023 at 5:33 PM ^
Who gets credit if say Michigan plays Iowa? Both schools? It'd be interesting to do this analysis ex-Michigan (meaning the B1G average/ team 4M+ games w/ Michigan included and excluding Michigan).
November 15th, 2023 at 5:50 PM ^
Yeah, I counted both schools. It’s not ideal — but it is, like I said, extremely half-assed. There are better ways to parse this data, for sure.
November 15th, 2023 at 6:17 PM ^
It would be interesting to see the schools in ACC and SEC who have 15 or more games.Not many.
November 15th, 2023 at 8:22 PM ^
What would be useful is to know how many Big Ten schools have 4M games without Michigan.
OSU will have some, PSU will have some. After that, I bet it falls off considerably.
In fact if you also take out OSU, I would guess that the rest of the current Big Ten hardly has any.
They are being carried by Michigan and OSU . . . and they want to chase half of that away??
Idiots.
November 16th, 2023 at 6:38 AM ^
Make the graph bar a stack of each opposing team?
November 15th, 2023 at 8:12 PM ^
Iowa gets credit for 4 million punts.
November 15th, 2023 at 10:09 PM ^
As if millions of punters cried out in pain and were then suddenly silenced.
November 15th, 2023 at 5:34 PM ^
I believe the conference just wants Jim Harbaugh gone, they want to keep Michigan, but that evil Jim Harbaugh has to go.
I mean, it's not very nice to change up the Michigan signs when all the coaches have worked very hard to decode them and share them with each other.
How pissed do you think everyone was when Michigan added that extra screen outside the outdoor practice field?
I BET the ACC would love to have those Michigan numbers in their conference.
November 15th, 2023 at 5:40 PM ^
It would be silly to leave the BIG in the short term. I know everyone is upset, I sure as hell am, but the money to be made in the BIG is more than the SEC. Let's see what happens in the long run.
November 15th, 2023 at 5:52 PM ^
I do think, tho’, that the more lawyers Michigan and the B1G throw at each other, the harder it is to see them reconciling.
November 15th, 2023 at 6:10 PM ^
Michigan will make money wherever they go … BET
November 15th, 2023 at 6:25 PM ^
Michigan is going to make bank no matter what. At some point self-respect has to come into play.
Conference members stabbing you in the back is intolerable.
November 15th, 2023 at 6:33 PM ^
Silly? Wrong choice of word. If we stay back for money and for no other reason, Michigan deserves what it got. Nothing is going to change in the long run as long as Michigan continues to run. People will be waiting to pipe on.
November 15th, 2023 at 7:14 PM ^
Indiana, Rutgers, Northwestern, and Purdue get Big Ten football money. Fuck all it does for those programs.
At this point UM can make 85% of what it does going anywhere. No need to be in OSUs bitch made league anymore.
November 15th, 2023 at 10:42 PM ^
The money wouldn't disappear for Michigan if it did leave the conference, it would disappear for the B1G, at least 25%
November 15th, 2023 at 10:42 PM ^
The money wouldn't disappear for Michigan if it did leave the conference, it would disappear for the B1G, at least 25%
November 16th, 2023 at 10:32 AM ^
ACC or be independent. Michigan wouldn't have to share anything with the bottom feeders.
November 15th, 2023 at 7:20 PM ^
If you worked at a place with only 14 employees and 13 of those employees treated you like crap and went to the boss, and the boss suspended you for 3 days just because it would make the 13 employees happy, why stay at the company. And you are one of the biggest money makers for your company.
November 15th, 2023 at 7:40 PM ^
Michigan can't leave in the short term. The TV rights were just sold last year and run until 2029.
But I think that the UM probably needs those six years to properly position itself for its post-Big-Ten future.
November 15th, 2023 at 8:26 PM ^
What happens in 2029? Are we a "free agent" then?
That will come faster that we think. We need to be doing our due diligence and looking at all our options. And we need to be messaging that we are doing so. And it's not just a bluff.
November 16th, 2023 at 6:40 AM ^
Michigan can't leave in the short term. The TV rights were just sold last year and run until 2029.
Don’t think anyone can say this with certainty unless they’ve reviewed the relevant contracts, including taking into account the league’s breach of contract. See prior threads re association bylaws constituting a contract between the association and its members.
November 15th, 2023 at 7:58 PM ^
What you seem to be overlooking is the fact that Big 10 has more money BECAUSE of Michigan. If Michigan left, a lot of their money leaves with them because Fox isn’t going to let paying the same rate to show Iowa vs. OSU instead of Michigan vs. OSU. All the Tv deals get renegotiated if Michigan goes elsewhere.
November 15th, 2023 at 8:19 PM ^
If we don't leave, the B1G will screw us again. This won't stop if we remain.
November 15th, 2023 at 8:24 PM ^
I think most of us would like to stay in the Big Ten considering we are founding members and the oldest program in it. It was also much more collegial, if you could call it that, when schools really took the other aspects of conference membership seriously. Today it has become little more than a business partnership that draws upon nostalgia and distributes revenue to members. If the conference were to reinvigorate the CIC/Big Ten Academic Conference and stop the petty bickering then maybe that is a reason to stay. However, what is happening to Michigan is not new and we as a university are far more nationally and internationally oriented than when the Big Ten was formed as a collection of Midwestern universities in the 19th century. And the league‘s recent expansions only further dilutes this identity. It would be better to stay if we can right the ship. If not we don’t want to be burdened with partners who always have Schadenfreude and want a handout. Best to be deliberate and analyze options ahead of the next rights package.
November 16th, 2023 at 4:50 AM ^
If we leave the Big Ten, the money we save on needing lawyers to fight off the Big Ten will more than offset our losses.
I'm only half kidding.
November 15th, 2023 at 5:42 PM ^
Why doesn’t Rutgers have a blue bar?
November 15th, 2023 at 7:14 PM ^
They didnt get any action.
November 15th, 2023 at 5:47 PM ^
You're not counting this right, though. MSU gets 6 because it plays UM and OSU, right? That is weird.
November 15th, 2023 at 5:53 PM ^
Yep, exactly. There are better ways to parse this data, but this way was easy and I am lazy.
November 15th, 2023 at 7:39 PM ^
It simple enough to make your point. The rest sound like the rest of the big 10 bitchin about someone else