The Big Ten's massive new TV deal begins next season, and it's a deal that's massive in more ways than one. The payout is massive -- north of $1 billion per year for the next seven years -- and so, too, is the coverage.
Starting with the 2023 season, Big Ten football will be televised like a minor league version of the NFL. The conference will retain its status as the default home of Fox's Big Noon Saturday package. It will share the 3:30 ET window on CBS with the SEC before taking over that package completely in 2024, and, just like the NFL, Big Ten games will air in prime time on NBC.
According to the New York Post, NBC has identified Noah Eagle and Todd Blackledge as the broadcast tandem for its B1G on NBC package.
Eagle, 26, is the son of CBS's No. 2 play-by-play announcer Ian Eagle. The younger Eagle has called NFL games for Fox, the NFL Network, and Nickelodeon, college football games on Fox, and is also the radio voice of the Los Angeles Clippers.
Jac Collinsworth, son of Cris, is the play-by-play voice of NBC's Notre Dame package.
Blackledge was the color analyst for the SEC on CBS package from 1999-05 before he was replaced by Gary Danielson. He joined ESPN's roster of college football analysts in 2006 and has worked his way to the No. 2 team alongside Sean McDonough. Their crew called the Fiesta Bowl semifinal last weekend and will do the CFP National Championship on ESPN Radio on Monday night.
The move will be a homecoming for the former Penn State quarterback.
CBS has indicated its No. 1 crew of Brad Nessler and Danielson will follow the network from the SEC to the Big Ten when the SEC contract expires in 2023.
Fairly or unfairly, Danielson acquired the reputation as the No. 1 SEC propagandist during his decade and a half calling the network's games, so it'll be interesting to see if the former Purdue quarterback attempts to shed that label when he and his team move north full-time starting in 2024.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.