B1G football game likely staying central

ROSEMONT, Ill. - Last week, the Big Ten announced that the conference basketball tournament will be held in Washington D.C. at the Verizon Center in 2017. This was met with some angst from old guard, Midwestern branch of the B1G fan base, but the Big Ten wanted to send the clear message that it is 'living” out east and not 'renting.”

Now, what about football?

Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany said Wednesday an announcement on future football title game sites could be made in June after the conference presidents meet. Delany views the football championship different from basketball in that it's two teams vs. the entire 14-team league.

'As a general philosophy, when you have 14 fan bases, it's easier to move events than when you have two fan bases,” Delany said, 'so, I think central is the presumption, a central location would be the presumption.”

Since its inception in 2011, the Big Ten title game has only been played in Indianapolis at Lucas Oil Stadium. That deal is locked in through the 2015 championship. The Big Ten took bids on the game in 2011 and Indianapolis won in a landslide, with the Indiana Sports Corporation running laps around a splintered effort from Chicago.

Since that failed bid, Chicago has launched its own Chicago Sports Commission and could be a serious player this time around.

No athletics director at Wednesday's Big Ten meetings would characterize where the game might be headed or even if it might move.

Could the football title game follow the basketball tournament east?

'Do I see it?” Wisconsin athletics director Barry Alvarez said. 'I think there's a possibility in the future for that to happen. I think we've all been very satisfied with it being played in Indianapolis, but I think that's something you have to look forward to in the future.”

It's hard to characterize where the football game could go. In discussing the basketball tournament, In discussion Detroit as a possibility for the B1G basketball tournament, Michigan State athletics director Mark Hollis made some sense on why Indianapolis, at least in the pre-push to Big Ten east.

'Indianapolis was always picked because it was centrally located,” Hollis said. 'Even though Indiana and Purdue are sitting there, it felt like a congregation point. Chicago has that same feel. Going to D.C. in Maryland's backyard doesn't make sense to a lot of others to at least step forward and say why.”

As for football, Hollis said 'I think there's a good comfort level with Indy right now, but we haven't extended anything at this point.”

Delany pointed out that the B1G has been in the football championship game business for just three seasons. Indianapolis helped bring the new endeavor stability.

'They were turnkey, a tremendous operator of events,” he said. Delany added the conference has had three different experiences, with last season's Michigan State-Ohio State game topping the charts.

'We've had three different experiences and we very much like Indianapolis,” Delany said. 'We're fortunate that we have great places to play ... If you look at who we are now, we're a conference in two regions.”

With the addition of Rutgers and Maryland, the Big Ten has expanded its footprint. Delany isn't going to be mealy mouthed about the B1G living in the east. He couched the football title game talk with 'centralized,” but the push is unquestionably eastward.

Delany said the B1G geographic footprint did grow by only 3 percent, 'so, it's not a tremendously longer distance, but it is a different region of the country and we haven't been there before.

'The challenge will be living in two regions. All the major conferences are doing it, nobody has done it before. That will require a concerted effort to build, make friends, become relevant, build relationships.”

Then, Delany pointed out that 80 percent of the B1G's historic fan base and alumni are in the Midwest.

'So, you're going to see a rotation and a respect for both regions,” he said. 'I don't expect we're going to be here exclusively and I don't expect to be there exclusively. I think you're going to see representation that we live in both regions. You'll see that with competitions, our championships, our television network, our fan base.”

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