The Big Ten contracts really shouldn't be higher. they don't pull in good viewing outside of their top 3. I really think the idea of the markets is short sited. No one in Chicago is watching Illinois or Northwestern just because they are instate schools. Pretty much everyone in the States of Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia, Louisiana are watching those teams because they are the in state school. Who cares if the market is 10 million people if you aren't even pulling 100,000 eyes from it?
Our schools do far better in viewership ratings than the Big 10. You have 11/14 SEC schools on this list. vs 5/14 Big Ten Schools on the list. and this is with Michigan on its way to a national title, and with traditional SEC teams like Auburn and Florida being down.
1. Alabama
2. Ohio State
4. Georgia
5. Michigan
6. Tennessee
12. LSU
14. Penn State
15. Auburn
16. Missouri
17. Florida
18. Ole Miss
20. TAMU
21. Iowa
24. Nebraska
31. Kentucky
32. Mississippi State
Alabama and Georgia, plus nine other SEC teams, were some of the most-watched teams during the 2023 college football season, per Nielsen ratings:
www.tennessean.com
point being the SEC has to actually produce more money for the add companies than the Big 10, even if the Big 10 is generally in bigger markets.