Expansion By Big Ten May Bring Small Payoff

Small Payoff For Big Ten?
In this Nov. 17, 2012 photo, empty seats are seen in the stands during an NCAA college football game between Florida State and Maryland in College Park, Md. Maryland is set to announce it is joining the Big Ten. The Big Ten Network tweeted that it will cover the school's news conference Monday afternoon, Nov. 19, 2012, to announce Maryland's decision to leave the Atlantic Coast Conference. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
In this Nov. 17, 2012 photo, empty seats are seen in the stands during an NCAA college football game between Florida State and Maryland in College Park, Md. Maryland is set to announce it is joining the Big Ten. The Big Ten Network tweeted that it will cover the school's news conference Monday afternoon, Nov. 19, 2012, to announce Maryland's decision to leave the Atlantic Coast Conference. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Maryland accepted an invitation to join the Big Ten Conference on Monday. Rutgers did the same on Tuesday, expanding the conference’s roster to 14 teams and its footprint to the East Coast.

But the main rationale for adding the schools seems to be economic: the prospect that they would give the Big Ten, and its cable network, access to the New York and Washington media markets.

On that account, the decision may be questionable. Although Rutgers and Maryland are in densely populated areas, they also compete against a number of other Division I football programs for fans and attention.

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