2024 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Jim Delany, Daring Leader and Architect of Modern College Athletics By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital
Friday, December 6, 2024 - 9:41 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
Leading up to the 2024 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame ceremony on Dec. 17 at the New York Hilton, SVG is profiling the 10 inductees in this year's class. For more information, CLICK HERE.
Daring. Disruptive. Different.
The 2024 college-football season has been one unlike any other: beefier power conferences, an expanded playoff system, the transfer portal, and Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL).
This isn't your father's college sports. Heck, it isn't even your older brother's.
It's undeniable that live television is a major force driving the revolutionary shifts in college sports. Although the early days of ESPN, Jefferson Pilot Sports, and the like laid the foundation for college-sports fans' relationships with their schools, the turn of the century and the birth of the conference network took the concept into a new universe.
Daring. Disruptive. Different. Enter Jim Delany.
Delany's storied career as commissioner of the Big Ten Conference spanned 31 transformative years. He retired in January 2020, having become one of the most influential figures in the history of collegiate athletics. From pioneering groundbreaking media ventures to expanding the conference's footprint, his legacy is defined by bold initiatives, strategic foresight, and a steadfast commitment to the values of collegiate sports.
Delany's crowning achievement in sports broadcasting is obvious: the 2007 launch - and continued success - of the Big Ten Network (BTN), the first successful dedicated television network for a collegiate conference. More than a financial success, BTN redefined how conferences could control their brand and showcase their institutions.
My judgment was, if somebody could do it, we could because of our brand strength and the demographics of our conference, Delany says. It was great branding and a great way for Olympic sports, women's sports, football, and basketball to get on the air. It was a success both financially and artistically.
The network's innovative model paved the way for similar ventures: the SEC Network launched eight years later, the ACC Network 13 years later. BTN's success wasn't without its challenges, requiring patience and collaboration. We did it the old-fashioned way, Delany notes. We weren't on the air for a year. It was difficult but successful.
Says FOX Sports President/COO Mark Silverman, who was president of BTN from its inception until 2018, The Big Ten Network was the first of its kind. Jim Delany is one of a kind. He was the leader into this new era of college football.
Beyond television, Delany's other lasting legacy is expansion. Under his leadership, the Big Ten Conference grew significantly, adding Penn State in 1990, Nebraska in 2011, and Maryland and Rutgers in 2014. These additions not only increased its geographical reach but also strengthened its brand and competitive profile.
These moves were ahead of their time, foreshadowing the disruptive conference consolidation that has changed today's college landscape.
Great leaders are able to see things that haven't happened yet, says current Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti. When you can stand back and say that you were there and you created a network, very few people in our industry are going to be able to make that claim.
During his tenure, Delany also spearheaded initiatives that improved the fan experience and modernized the game. He oversaw development of college football's first instant-replay system, which set a precedent for fairness and transparency in the sport - and advanced the live-television product.
At the end of the day, though, although the revenue poured in, attendance ballooned, and the Big Ten brand grew, what makes Delany most proud is the culture that he helped foster inside the conference's Chicago office.
[It's] the internal culture and the cohesion that we created not only in our staff but in the institutions that have allowed us to enter into some challenging initiatives, he says, whether that's starting the Big Ten Network or putting together [all of our] television partners and making that work cohesively.
Even in retirement, Delany's influence continues to shape the Big Ten. The conference honored his contributions by naming its new state-of-the-art Big Ten Network studios after him.
I don't think you can overstate Jim's legacy when it comes to the Big Ten Network, says BTN President Francois McGillicuddy.
Delany's peers and partners consistently hailed his ability to take calculated risks and deliver results.
He was outstanding in terms of choosing risks that would be winners, says Sally Mason, a former president of the University of Iowa. Jim knew how to win. He was a winner.
From the launch of BTN to the expansion of the Big Ten, Delany's visionary leadership transformed the landscape of college athletics. His tenure not only elevated the Big Ten to unprecedented heights but also set a standard of excellence and innovation that continues to resonate across the world of sports.
And it forever reshaped sports broadcasting.
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
01/12/2025
L3Harris and PentenAmio formalise their teaming agreement at MilCIS 2025, streng...
01/12/2025
Artemis II is NASA's first crewed flight test of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft. The crew, from left: Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Vic...
01/12/2025
IRVINE, Calif. Wooden Camera has introduced its new Accessory Collection for the Canon EOS C50. The new lineup includes a low-profile, gimbal-ready cage, expand...
01/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has released a tentative agenda for its Dec. 18 Open Commission Meeting that will include a vote on a report an...
01/12/2025
In most years, a graph of annual local TV ad spending is about as predictable as an electrocardiogram of a reasonably healthy patient in a doctor's office. ...
01/12/2025
Many industries have seen big-ticket hardware turn into software. Switchers, though, demand a combination of real-time performance and sheer bandwidth that has ...
01/12/2025
GENEVA Shanghai will host the next quadrennial Radiocommunication Assembly (RA-27) and World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-27), Oct. 11-Nov. 12, 2027. This...
01/12/2025
NEW YORK Just in time for Giving Tuesday tomorrow (Dec. 2), the Broadcasters Foundation of America is seeking out donations to help television and radio industr...
01/12/2025
STOCKHOLM, Sweden Net Insight CEO Crister Fritzson has informed the company's board that he will retire from the video transport and media cloud technology ...
01/12/2025
01 Dec 2025
Kyivstar and Ukrainian Ministry of Digital Transformation Select Go...
01/12/2025
The prequel to the global hit Sky Original mob crime saga, Gomorrah' is a s...
01/12/2025
Featuring Florence Welch, Red Hot Chilli Peppers' Flea, designer Bella Freud...
01/12/2025
Back to All News
A Down to Earth, All Too Relatable Hero: Cashero' Teaser ...
01/12/2025
In the rush to deliver content to every screen, many broadcasters overlook one of the most crucial steps in the workflow: format and frame rate conversion. Get ...
01/12/2025
Fox Corporation Chief Financial Officer Steve Tomsic to Participate in Upcoming ...
01/12/2025
Arvato Systems' Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) Receives BSI C5 Certification (T...
01/12/2025
Summary This short video gives you an summary of the changes in under two minutes.
--...
01/12/2025
As the festive season approaches, RT Supporting the Arts is proud to showcase a...
01/12/2025
Researchers worldwide rely on open-source technologies as the foundation of their work. To equip the community with the latest advancements in digital and physi...
01/12/2025
Festive specials of Christmas in Kilmainham presented by Marty Whelan, High Road Low Road, Callan Kicks the Year and Keys to My Life
Ring in the New Year with ...
01/12/2025
Architect and television presenter Hugh Wallace, best known to RT audiences as a long-serving judge on Home of the Year, has died at the age of 68.
In a state...
28/11/2025
Nadia Fall attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Brides at the Egyptian Theatre on January 24, 2025, in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Donyale West/...
28/11/2025
It's easy to ignore those little red update available badges. But when it ...
28/11/2025
WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission has released a tentative agenda for the December Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, December 18, 2025 ...
28/11/2025
The Professional Fighters League is looking to super-serve fans of mixed martial...
28/11/2025
Fubo has released in beta on select Roku devices a new feature that lets users display up to four simultaneous streams at once....
28/11/2025
The WNBA playoffs and Week 4 of the NFL regular season highlight the list of live sports events airing on television this weekend....
28/11/2025
The 32nd class of honorees to the B+C Hall of Fame took to the stage at New York's Ziegfeld Ballroom on September 26 for a gala induction event. Click below...
28/11/2025
We hold in our hands the very last Next Text for Next TV, the weekly back-and-fo...
28/11/2025
DirecTV said it made a deal with EchoStar to buy EchoStar's video businesses, including satellite-TV provider Dish TV and virtual MVPD Sling TV, for $1 plus...
28/11/2025
The Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame, the premier industry event paying tribute to the influencers, innovators and shining lights of broadcast, cable and streami...
28/11/2025
Friday 28 November 2025
Sky Sports x Slawn drop limited-edition football jersey...
28/11/2025
Rohde & Schwarz shows resilience in a challenging environment, revenue exceeds t...
28/11/2025
Unwrapped: The Toy Show Appeal - airing this Sunday on RT One and RT Player- s...
27/11/2025
LONDON Vizrt has added several AI-driven advanced features offering improved speed, intelligence and accuracy in the newest version of its media asset managemen...
27/11/2025
Prime Video has launched AI-powered video season recaps in a beta version for select English-language Prime Original series in the U.S., a move Amazon is callin...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Netflix's Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders Marks a Grand...
27/11/2025
27 Nov 2025
GSMA brings M360 Eurasia 2026 to Samarkand in partnership with VEON...
27/11/2025
Tahar Rahim and Izuka Hoyle star in the gripping six-part Sky Original from Acad...
27/11/2025
Thursday 27 November 2025
Sky Arts Reveals the Nation's Greatest Basslines - and Queen Reign Supreme
The UK's most iconic basslines have been revealed...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Stranger Things 5': Prepare for One Last Adventure With O...
27/11/2025
The media industry has a paradox at its core. It's an industry built on light, color and imagination, yet behind the scenes, it's powered by one of the ...
27/11/2025
Rating reflects rating progress across areas including policies, diversity & inclusion, health & safety and Net Zero leadership
Winchester, UK, 27 November 202...
27/11/2025
What are the industry standards for Retail Media? Kathryn explains that certification is based on the IAB Europe Retail Media Measurement Standards and the IAB ...
27/11/2025
World champion boxer and Irish sporting icon Katie Taylor will be in studio this...
27/11/2025
Roblox, one of the world's most popular online gaming platforms for primary ...
27/11/2025
Black Friday is leveling up. Get ready to score one of the biggest deals of the season - 50% off the first three months of a new GeForce NOW Ultimate membership...
26/11/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Prime Video EP Mike Muriano Previews Massive Black Friday Slate Fe...
2024 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Jim Delany, Daring Leader and Architect of Modern College Athletics By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital 
