WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Big Ten Conference football games are coming to WPTV starting next season.
NBC on Thursday announced a new seven-year agreement that will make the network the exclusive prime-time home of Big Ten football beginning in 2023.
"Big Ten Saturday Night" will mark the first-ever dedicated weekly prime-time game on a broadcast network. The games will be simulcast on Peacock.
The deal also includes the rights to broadcast the Big Ten championship game in 2026.
It also gives WPTV viewers and college football fans more options. NBC has been the exclusive broadcast partner to Notre Dame home football games since 1991.
"We are incredibly excited to be partnering with Kevin Warren and the Big Ten Conference on this robust package of sports," Pete Bevacqua, chairman of NBC Sports, said in a statement. "With 'Big Ten Saturday Night' and 'Sunday Night Football' headlining each fall weekend in primetime on NBC and Peacock, along with our historic Notre Dame football partnership, NBC Sports will be the home of the premier games in college football and the NFL. In addition, with the rights to a wide range of Big Ten events, Peacock and NBC Sports will be a year-round destination for the best in college sports."
The Big Ten will grow to 16 teams in 2024 with the additions of UCLA and Southern California.
Big Ten football will now be televised on NBC, CBS and Fox, in addition to cable's Big Ten Network and FS1.
When the new contract begins, it will leave ABC without Big Ten football for the first time since 1966.
"The Big Ten Conference media rights agreements are more than just dollars and deals. They are a mechanism to provide stability and maximum exposure for our student-athletes, member institutions and partners during these uncertain times in collegiate athletics," Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren said in a statement. "We are very grateful to our world-class media partners for recognizing the strength of the Big Ten Conference brand and providing the incredible resources we need for our student-athletes to compete at the very highest levels, and to achieve their academic and athletics goals."
NBC's agreement to televise Big Ten football games runs through the 2029 season.
