The battle over the new Big Ten Network started to heat up around the beginning of summer. That's when a major cable company questioned whether there was the need for a 24-hour channel devoted to a single athletic conference.
Not just football and basketball games, but also softball, soccer and diving. And studio shows to dissect it all.
That's when conference Commissioner Jim Delany accused a cable executive of denigrating women's sports and asked for an apology. Then fans started expressing their anger and worry on Internet message boards.
Soon, the University of Iowa got into the act, sending a mass e-mail that encouraged Hawkeyes alumni to complain to their cable systems.
There is nothing new about tense negotiations between a start-up network and the cable systems that might carry its programs. But the Big Ten Network marks the first time a major athletic conference has experimented with generating television coverage that goes well beyond what already appears on established channels.
The mixture of hot-blooded fans and cold, hard TV bucks appears to have upped the ante.
"Clearly, it's getting personal," said Neal Pilson, the former president of CBS Sports who is now an industry consultant.
The other conferences are curious about how this minidrama plays out. If the Big Ten is successful, it might open a revenue stream worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
"We're going to keep an eye on it," said Duane Lindberg, a Pacific 10 associate commissioner. "The reward of owning your own network can be substantial."
The Big Ten comprises 11 universities in eight Midwestern states and -- with Michigan, Ohio State, Indiana and Penn State among its schools -- a stockpile of sports lore and followers.
Conference executives recently signed a 10-year, $1-billion contract with ABC and ESPN but figured there were plenty of games left beyond what major networks were interested in. So they partnered with Fox Cable Networks to build a downtown Chicago headquarters and obtain broadcast rights from their member schools.
The resulting network, which launches Aug. 30, will offer about 400 live events this school year, including 38 football games and 125 men's basketball games that established networks aren't showing. There will be 55 women's basketball games, at least 170 events in sports ranging from baseball to hockey, coaches shows and replays of classic games.
