In the midst of an article about an
Indiana University Trustee impotently complaining about the Big Ten Network stalemate, there's an interesting little nugget. Few people at the Big Ten schools actually have seen or read the contract with the Big Ten Network.
Eskew said he's also concerned that a year and a half after the contract between the Big Ten Conference and Fox was announced, not enough people know the details. He said he believes nobody at IU has read it other than Adam Herbert, IU's president in 2006. Eskew wonders if IU could get out of the deal if the cable issue isn't resolved.
...
[Neil] Theobald[, IU's vice president and chief financial officer,] said because IU has already used the money to issue $45 million in bonds for athletic facilities, there won't be any desire to pull out of the contract. School spokesman Larry MacIntyre agreed, saying that would be tantamount to pulling out of the Big Ten.
As for the Big Ten Network contract, Theobald said it's at the conference office in Park Ridge, Ill. He said he hasn't seen it, but that trustees "have access to it if they choose to read it."
In response to a public records request by The Star, MacIntyre said nobody at the school has the contract or a "definitive" description of its contents. But he said current school president Michael McRobbie and athletic director Rick Greenspan have been "intimately briefed on every detail."
And yes, they also checked to see if Purdue had a copy.
