Is it worth catering to a couple fanbases?
I still chuckle when they show ancient Penn State and Nebraska victories (and now Maryland and Rutgers) and claim them as Big Ten triumphs.
This is some really poor analysis. The MN market is small compared to the national market they're really catering to. You think NYC cares about MN vs. Arkansas? What about West Coast audiences? Say what you want but I'd be very surprised if The Game didn't get higher ratings in MN than a significant proportion oh MN B1G games during the regular season right in our own state.
Let's be honest, BTN is largely irrelevant to most viewers from March 15th to September 1st. I've watched maybe 10 minutes of it since March. It'll be one of my 3 most watched channels from September-March. It's all about the live content. Which re-runs they show in July means almost nothing. OSU and Michigan bring in some small fractional increase in viewers, so they get more time.