The Big Ten Network's Gerry DiNardo, left, speaks with Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer during training camp in 2013. (AP photo)

By Tyler Barto
Twitter: @Tyler_Barto
tbarto@trentonian.com

The Big Ten Network's Gerry DiNardo said Tuesday that the network's agreement earlier this week with Cablevision and Time Warner Cable will make the Big Ten "stronger financially."

NJ.com first reported the deal, which will bring the network into millions of homes in New York City and New Jersey, on Monday.

"Obviously as conferences expand, part of the equation is ... cable distribution," DiNardo told The Trentonian. "It's a major part of this. This has come to pass, and ...  and it's going to make the conference stronger in general."

The Big Ten Network will be a major media provider for Rutgers, broadcasting two prominent night games in the school's first season. More will follow once TV schedules shape.

As a probationary — no, not double secret — member of the Big Ten, Rutgers' won't tap into the conference's full profit margins for six years. 

The Big Ten remains the nation's highest-grossing league, pulling in more than $300 million in 2012-13.

"I think the Big Ten Network has changed the landscape of college football from a financial perspective, not only the revenues that the network produces," DiNardo said. "It's also the fact that it can be leveraged with some of the other media partners. 

The rumor is that 2017, I believe, each school is going to receive somewhere upward of $40 million. The network will not be a major part of the $40 million as far as the actual number percentage. Without the Big Ten Network, the Big Ten would have never gotten to $40 million because they didn't have the leverage they now have. The other TV partners are interested in the product."