Conference TV Network Trailblazers: The Big Ten Network (BTN)

The college sports landscape is changing – and so is the conference network landscape. The SEC and ESPN just announced a 20-year agreement to create a multi-platform network that will launch in August 2014. What does this mean for you – a passionate college sports fan? More games, more games and more games. This is news, but not necessarily new.

The Big Ten Conference launched the Big Ten Network (BTN) almost 6 years ago. As conference TV network trailblazers, they were able to maintain profitable distribution for some of their marquee football and basketball matchups with ESPN, FOX and CBS, while utilizing the network inventory to give fans access to the rest of the football and basketball games. (During fall Saturdays at our house, BTN is on from morning til night. Go Cats!) At the same time, BTN had an opportunity showcase an unprecedented amount of Olympic sports, like soccer, gymnastics and volleyball.

In addition, the Big Ten Conference saw an opportunity to create programming on their network that was more than just sports, highlighting the roles its universities play in teaching and preparing ALL of its students (the ones who wear the uniform as well as those who do not) for a life of significance.

This is demonstrated by their support of the BTN LiveB1G initiative, an integrated campaign featuring a television series, a website, on campus events, scholarship opportunities, and, most recently, in-game vignettes designed to take advantage of the eyeballs that tune in for their marquee programming.

After working with the Conference on their marketing and branding initiatives for the better part of the last decade, we have become familiar with – and inspired by – the amazing stories coming out of their universities. As a result, TeamWorks Media is uniquely positioned to share stories of students and alumni giving back, about research saving lives, about the power a campus can have when it unites behind a cause.

These are the stories we love to tell. We’re so happy to have found partners who also believe in sharing stories that make a difference in the world. Because a conference, just like its student athletes, is about so much more than athletics. Here are a few of my favorite vignettes that ran this past winter, during basketball games:

MICHIGAN – The MEZ:

MICHIGAN STATE – Soldier Reintegration:

NEBRASKA – Bully Prevention:

Did you catch the vignettes running in games this year? Or see a story on the BTN LiveB1G series that you found particularly cool? Give me a shout in the comments and let me know what inspired you!