Wasn't sure where else to put this, but think about this the next time you complain about ESPN's
admittedly horrible broadcasts. These are the top 6 most viewed Big Ten non-conference games this season and the only ones that reached over 1 million viewers:
1.
Michigan State vs. #3 Kansas (New York, NY): 1.517 million (Monday 11/9 on ESPN)
2.
#1 Duke at Ohio State (B1G/ACC): 1.310 million (Tuesday 11/30 on ESPN)
3.
Michigan at North Carolina (B1G/ACC): 1.108 million (Wednesday 12/1 on ESPN)
4.
Notre Dame vs. Indiana (Indianapolis, IN): 1.013 million (Saturday 12/18 on FOX)
5.
#11 Arizona at Illinois: 1.098 million (Saturday 12/11 on FOX)
6.
Saint Mary's vs. Wisconsin (Paradise, NV): 1.006 million (Wednesday 11/24 on ESPN)
For comparison, these are our non-ESPN/FOX games so far:
Michigan at #25 Illinois: 576k (Friday 1/14 on FS1 ... great ratings for a frickin' Friday)
Illinois at Iowa: 392k (Monday 12/6 on FS1)
Maryland at Illinois: 351k (Thursday 1/6 on FS1)
Illinois at Minnesota: 238k (Tuesday 1/4 on FS1)
Obviously, the day of the week and the game time have an effect, as well, but the bottom line is you are getting invaluable exposure for having to listen to the clowns at ESPN commentate a game. For a further comparison, our final two BTT games last year on CBS (vs. Iowa and vs. OSU) drew
2.889 million and
3.678 million, respectively.
No real point here, just kind of cool and thought I'd share. We have some pretty big games coming up that will be in front of VERY large audiences (considering the size of our fan base, the size of the other fan bases and the channels):
Tuesday 1/25 at 6:00 pm: #14 Michigan State at #17 Illinois on ESPN(2)
Saturday 2/5 at 11:00 am: #17 Illinois at Indiana on ESPN(2)
Thursday 2/10 at 8:00 pm: #17 Illinois at #4 Purdue on ESPN(2)
Saturday 2/19 at 1:30 pm: #17 Illinois at #14 Michigan State on FOX
Sunday 2/27 at 1:00 pm: #17 Illinois at Michigan on CBS
Some huge opportunities to shine for the program, let's go take advantage!