Kevin Warren, College Football’s Savvy Negotiator

As it carried out talks for a new rights deal, the Big Ten was guaranteed a big payday. Television networks spend vast sums to air live sports, which are just about the only thing that keeps people glued to cable. The conference, home to famous programs such as the University of Michigan and Ohio State University, has been a huge ratings draw for Fox and ESPN, which hold its rights through the end of this season. Then, in late June, the University of Southern California and the University of California at Los Angeles strengthened the conference’s hand further, announcing that they intended to leave the Pac-12 Conference to join the Big Ten as early as 2024. Adding two schools with massive fan bases puts the conference in a position to ask for even more money.

The agreement could pay each of the soon-to-be 16 schools in the even-more-completely-misnamed conference about $70 million annually, higher than what schools in other elite conferences receive. It was a massive victory for Kevin Warren, a former executive for the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings and the first Black commissioner of a major college conference.