Collectively the Big 10 consumes approximately 40% of all federal research dollars and its members actively partner with each other to procure grants. The Big 10 estimates that Georgia Tech, by partnering with Purdue and Illinois, would receive an additional $1 billion dollars in research grants over the next 10 years.
Add to that the benefits of the Big 10′s CIC and it’s clear that any institution that values research would recognize the superiority of the Big 10 over the ACC.
Aside from the opportunity of increased research funding the Big 10 offers considerable advantages in athletics.
The Big 10′s current television deal with ESPN expires in 2016 and has averaged an annual payout of $24.6 million per school. The ACC’s deal with ESPN runs through the 2026 season and averages an annual payout of $16.9 million per school.
On the surface the revenue disparity is $7.7 million, but the Big 10′s television contract expires in 2016 and the conference expects to see a significant increase that will drive the revenue disparity only higher and higher.
Now, on top of that, consider the additional value provided by the Big 10 Network (BTN) and how that value can only increase with expansion.
The BTN is the most successful network of its kind. It generated $242 million in revenue for 2011 (2012 revenues are not yet available) and the share each school has received in the first five years of the network are slightly more than $34 million.