Ohio State Buckeyes: Gene Smith happy about Big Ten’s new TV deals

Gene Smith said the Big Ten’s new billion-dollar-plus broadcast rights deal presents a great opportunity for athletes in the conference.

“Unbelievable exposure for our institutions and the student-athletes themselves,” Ohio State’s director of athletics said shortly after the league announced it will partner with Fox, CBS and NBC to air its games from 2023-30.

“Fox has been an unbelievable partner over the years. Then to add powerhouses like CBS and NBC and what they bring was just a phenomenal opportunity,” Smith said.

The majority of games will be on broadcast television or cable, but eight football games and almost 80 basketball games will move to streaming networks when the deal kicks in next fall.

“Having a traditional linear network was important, and to be able to dip our toe a little bit stronger into direct-to-consumer streaming was another great opportunity,” he added while acknowledging many fans are not yet well-versed in the latter option.

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