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, ...
08/12/2025
Eurovision winner Niamh Kavanagh is the first celebrity to be revealed for the s...
08/12/2025
Changing children's lives for good: A staggering 4.6 million raised in the 2025 appeal
The people of Ireland and people all over the world have once again...
08/12/2025
It's murder on the dancefloor as The Traitors Ireland legend Paudie Moloney ...
06/12/2025
In a live broadcast from the Reagan National Defense Forum, L3Harris Chair and CEO Christopher Kubasik joined Morgan Brennan on CNBCs Closing Bell: Overtime. Ku...
06/12/2025
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. A new survey from Pixitmedia by Datacore revealed a major shift in the Media & Entertainment industry in media archiving, with 85% of resp...
06/12/2025
HACKENSACK, N.J. LiveU has announced that the national public broadcaster Czech Television has completed one of the largest LiveU live production deployments fo...
06/12/2025
NEW YORK The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) presented the Excellence in Production Technology Emmy Award to NASA+ and Dr. Tom Leight...
05/12/2025
2025 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nati...
05/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Veritone's Sean King on the Power of Mining Video, Audio DataThe company's Data Refinery offers users total control and governance over da...
05/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: Inside the Nashville Predators' Unified, Flexible, Sca...
05/12/2025
Netflix Reaches Agreement To Acquire Warner Bros. Following Planned WBD SplitThe deal does not include WBDs sports assets like TNT Sports (US, UK, LatAm), Euros...
05/12/2025
FOX Sports Returns to Indianapolis for Primetime Broadcast of Big Ten Championsh...
05/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Digital Engagement & Monetization Workshop Tackles the ...
05/12/2025
Atlanta United Lights Up New Emory Healthcare Studio With First Live Broadcast f...
05/12/2025
As Messi Takes the Pitch, MLS, Apple, NEP Roll Out Largest MLS Cup Production Ev...
05/12/2025
ESPN Enters College Football's Most Intense Month With Elevated Workflows fo...
05/12/2025
It's about that time! Awards season is in full swing, and the Film Independe...
05/12/2025
Every year, Spotify Wrapped offers a personalized look back at the audio that defined your year. It's a snapshot of your listening habits, designed to tell ...
05/12/2025
In 2025, Spotify's EQUAL, GLOW, and RADAR programs celebrated women, LGBTQIA , and emerging artists who turned moments into milestones. From breaking record...
05/12/2025
In our latest blog, we explain how Wi-Fi 7 rollouts can drive consumer loyalty with value-add services such as consumer cybersecurity. We also explore how this ...
05/12/2025
LOS ANGELES Netflix announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Nielsens Gracenote has launched Gracenote Content Connect, a new ad platform that provides agencies, brands, supply-side platforms (SSPs) and demand-si...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK In an most important update to the workings of deal-based programmatic advertising, IAB Tech Lab has released version 1.0 of its Deals API for public c...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Pass the turkey. Pass the stuffing. Pass the cranberry sauce. All are common requests of Americans celebrating Thanksgiving Day with family and f...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. Netflix announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has approved AT&T's $1.02 billion acquisition of spectrum from UScellular in a decision that was issued sho...
05/12/2025
The Best Coldplay Songs: 21 Tracks That Shoot for the Stars From Yellow to Viva La Vida, Fix You to Paradise, this playlist goes back to the start.
December ...
05/12/2025
Zafris Lecture Series Brings Nabil Ayers to Berklee The 32nd annual James G. Zafris Distinguished Lecture series was held on Thursday, November 13, with guest...
05/12/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Unveils the First Look for Land of Sin' - Premier...
05/12/2025
Introducing New Perks to Help You Get Even More from LinkedIn Premium Published on Dec 5, 2025 Categories: Company News, Product News
LinkedIn Corporate Co...
05/12/2025
Friday 5 December 2025
A new Game of Thrones Tale: Official trailer for Sky Exc...
05/12/2025
Back to All News
Don Lee, Lee Jin-uk, and Lalisa Manobal to Star in Netflix Act...
05/12/2025
Tis the season of giving once again and this year we've taken our Give Back Fridays' concept and turned it on its head.
In the autumn we were approach...
05/12/2025
Brayden Gogis doesn't remember a time when he wasn't completely fixated on games in all forms. In preschool, when they asked us to dress up as what we ...
05/12/2025
The Grinch steals the spotlight as the theme for The Late Late Toy Show 2025
Tune in tonight at 9:35pm on RT One and worldwide on RT Player
#LateLateToyShow...
05/12/2025
RT Announces New Presenters of Flagship News Programmes
New RT Six One News co-presenter Tommy Meskill
Sarah McInerney & Justin McCarthy join Morning Ir...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir Blackmagic Design HyperDeck Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & ...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir AJA Ki Pro Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & just:in linux
More Details:Starting with version 5.5, both just:in mac pro and just:in linux sol...
04/12/2025
Wangu Kanuri from Kenya and Godwin Asediba from Ghana are two of this years finalists for Thomsons Young Journalist of the Year Award. The pair are runners-up i...
04/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: ProximaVision's Claudio Lisman on Why Tethered Drones Could Be...
04/12/2025
SVG Campus Shot Callers: Imry Halevi, Senior Associate Director of Athletics, Co...
04/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: LiveU Lightweight Sports Production: A Step Change in Spor...
04/12/2025
London to Riyadh: DAZN brings the boxing glamour to new production levels for Be...
04/12/2025
Analysis: Paramount bets on the battering ram' with Champions League play By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Tuesday, December 2, 2025 - 10:12
Print ...
04/12/2025
Space City Home Network Launches SCHN DTC App for Astros and RocketsThe Rockets and Astros were previously the lone NBA and MLB teams without a DTC appBy Jason...
04/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Content Workflows Workshop Spotlights Evolution of Spor...
2024 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Jim Delany, Daring Leader and Architect of Modern College Athletics By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital 
