The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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Inside Michigan ATHLETICS T Big Ten Expands By Two, Adds Rutgers And Maryland commissioner Jim Delany, along with the presidents and athletic directors of Maryland and Rutgers, announced the admission of the Terrapins and Scarlet Knights in subsequent days Nov. 19-20. The conference, which has no plans to switch its name, will now consist of 14 teams, after adding Ne- braska in 2011 and Penn State in 1993. "The additions of Rutgers and Mary- he Big Ten will grow by two begin- ning in 2014-15 after conference land further expand the Big Ten's foot- print while helping solidify our pres- ence on the East Coast," Delany said. "Both institutions feature a combina- tion of academic and athletic excel- lence, and will prove a great fit for our future." In July, at Big Ten media days, the schools' presidents and their athlet- ics directors changed course, courting and landing Maryland and Rutgers in an accelerated time span that seems to have amounted to a three- to four- week process from start to finish. "Experience shows that these things have to move quickly," U-M athlet- ics director David Brandon said. "If you get into a long, slow, drawn-out process that attracts all sorts of media attention and stakeholder intervention, it almost debilitates the principal abil- ity to finish the work and come to a conclusion and move forward. "I don't think there was any reck- Delany said he was comfortable with 12 teams, but in the ever-changing landscape of collegiate athletics, he, Rk. Market BIG TEN TOP-50 MEDIA MARKETS 1. New York* 3. Chicago 8. Washington, D.C.* 11. Detroit 4. Philadelphia 15. Minneapolis-St. Paul 1,721,940 18. Cleveland-Akron 23. Pittsburgh 26. Indianapolis 27. Baltimore* 32. Columbus 34. Milwaukee 35. Cincinnati TV Homes 7,387,810 3,493,480 2,993,370 2,360,180 1,842,650 41. Harrisburg-Lancaster 729,440 42. Grand Rapids-Kalamazoo * With the addition of Rutgers/Maryland Nielsen 2011-12 ratings 722,150 14 THE WOLVERINE DECEMBER 2012 1,514,170 1,171,490 1,109,970 1,097,310 932,680 907,660 896,090 lessness associated with how this pro- cess was managed. It was thorough and deliberate, but we moved quickly simply because this is the best way to get these deals done." While neither Maryland nor Rutgers adds a dominant football brand, the two open up television markets in Bal- timore (1,097,310 TV homes according to Nielsen data), Washington, D.C., (2,360,180) and New York (a nation- high 7,387,810), giving the Big Ten a presence in eight of the top 25 media markets in the country, and three of the top five. "If you are so shortsighted to just Maryland senior linebacker Darin Drakeford may not get the chance to play in the Big Ten, but his Terrapins are moving from the ACC in the 2014-15 season. PHOTO COURTESY MARYLAND look at football only, and just look at the fact that Maryland has been down for the last few years, then I suppose you can come to a conclusion that this wasn't a sexy announcement for the Big Ten," Brandon said. "However, if you take the 20-year view, the Big Ten Conference is a Midwestern-centric conference, and if you look at where population growth is occurring, and where population shifts are happen- ing, we are in a footprint that isn't keeping pace with other conferences in the country. population growth rate and there are people growing at three and four per- cent, if you take that out over 20 years, pretty soon you'll be in a situation where they have recruiting advantages over you, TV deals that are better than you, they will have more fans to fill up their stadiums and buy their mer- chandise, and all the things that are important to driving the models that make these athletic programs function. "So when you look at our opportu- "If you're growing at a one-percent nity to move into the Eastern seaboard, get closer to that southeastern section of the country, be able to capture mar- kets like Baltimore and Washington where we have a lot of alums, a lot of recruiting, a lot of talented athletes, a