Big East TV deal expected to be worth only $60 million

Back in May, CBSSports.com reported that the Big East media rights deal could be worth as little as $60 million, and that was before the recent defections of Louisville and Rutgers. CBSSports.com is back with another report saying that a new media rights deal could be worth $60 - $80 million, and with the new additions the average annual payout would be between $4 - $5.3 million.

The article doesn't specify the breakdown for football-only schools, but $4 million is significantly less than what former Big East commissioner John Marinatto which was $10 - $20 million per school.

One other item mentioned in the article is that Boise State -- as well as Houston -- has a clause to reduce their buyout if television money is not up to a certain standard:

For example, Boise State can reduce its buyout to leave the Big East if there is a drop of 25 percent in current aggregate total revenue. Also, Boise State can have that fee reduced if less than 70 percent of the new TV contract goes to football.

The 25 percent in aggregate total revenue could be in jeopardy if the Big East deal falls below $50 million, currently Big East schools earn approximately $4 million per season.

The Big East is also saying that they are working with the likes of Turner, Comcast, ESPN, Fox as well as Internet companies like Google to broadcast their games. If the Big East is going the tech route then I assume Google would broadcast games live on YouTube, and then one has to think Hulu is going to get involved since they dabble in live events such as concerts and Presidential debates.

The Big East sure is getting creative, but it looks like the lose of Rutgers and Louisville dipped their media rights deal to a low end of possibly $60 million per year.