Big Ten rival Michigan revealed this week that, thanks to the league's new TV contract, it is expecting a payout of $51.1 million from the conference in 2017-18. That is the same chunk of cash that Ohio State, Indiana, Illinois and the rest will add to their coffers.
But not Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights are projected to get just $11.6 million. As the athletic department races to build the facilities needed to compete in the conference, it will receive just one-fifth of the revenue that its well-heeled rivals are banking. That will change in the coming years, of course. Rutgers will get $14.9 million in 2018-19 and $19.3 million in 2019-20, and then -- finally -- it will get a full share of that revenue pie in 2020-21.
All will be forgotten then. But if that projected $51.1 million payout stays the same the next three years, the 11 established conference members (not counting other relative newcomers Maryland and Nebraska) will have pocketed $177 million more over the six-year transitional period than Rutgers.
Well, this is an outrage. We should all writing to the RU Pres. demanding an immediate withdrawal from the Big 10! Um, it is probably for the best if you don't mention that you are a UConn fan.
Although the article seems to be missing the forest for the trees, it does point out a good point. Even if UConn were to join a P6 league tomorrow, we would still have lost out on 100s of millions of dollars and every day it get worse.
