First, we need to look back at what Delaney wrote for the Ed O'Bannon trial...
Then, we get then backtracking...
Finally, we come to the B1G's nice payday from Fox.
"t has been my longstanding belief that The Big Ten's schools would forgo the revenues in those circumstances and instead take steps to downsize the scope, breadth and activity of their athletic programs," Delany wrote. "Several alternatives to a 'pay for play' model exist, such as the Division III model ... These alternatives would, in my view, be more consistent with The Big Ten's philosophy that the educational and lifetime economic benefits associated with a university education are the appropriate quid pro quo for its student athletes."
"It's not that we want to go Division III or go to need-based aid," Delany added to SI.com. "It's simply that in the plaintiff's hypothetical -- and if a court decided that Title IX is out and players must be paid -- I don't think we'd participate in that. I think we'd choose another option ... If that's the law of the land, if you have to do that, I don't think we would."
Then, we get then backtracking...
Finally, we come to the B1G's nice payday from Fox.
Point being here - If Delaney was serious about going D3, we know that deal wouldn't be worth nearly as much.Fox is close to signing a deal that gives it half of the Big Ten’s available media rights package, according to several sources. Deal terms still are flexible – both in terms of money and rights. However, the two sides have agreed on basic terms that will give Fox the rights to around 25 football games and 50 basketball games that it will carry on both the broadcast channel and FS1 starting in the fall of '17. The deal runs six years and could cost Fox as much as $250M per year, depending on the amount of rights the Big Ten conference puts in its second package.
The Fox deal essentially is half of the package of games that had been with ESPN (as part of a 10-year, $1B deal that expires next spring) and CBS (as part of a 6-year, $72M basketball-only deal that also expires next spring). The Big Ten will return to the market to solicit bids on the second half of the package. The conference has the flexibility to allow for another network or two to pick up that half. ESPN will be one of several TV networks engaged for the second half of the Big Ten’s package, along with the usual suspects of CBS, NBC and Turner.
The second package also is expected to include around 25 football and 50 basketball games. The package also could include rights to the football championship games every other year, though sources caution that the rights in the second package are flexible and could include more – or less – games.