2024 Discover Big Ten Football Championship Game Virtual Press Box

2024 Discover Big Ten Football Championship Game Virtual Press Box

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The city of Indianapolis and Lucas Oil Stadium will play host to the 14th annual Big Ten Football Championship Game on December 7, 2024. Kickoff for the game is set at 8 p.m. ET. The winner will earn the Amos Alonzo Stagg Championship Trophy and a chance to play in the College Football Playoff.

CBS will serve as the official broadcast partner of the Big Ten Football Championship Game.

Michigan has won the last three Big Ten Championship games (2021, 2022, 2023), while Ohio State (2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020) has claimed five titles. Wisconsin (2011 and 2012) and Michigan State (2013 and 2015) have each won two Big Ten Championship Games, while Penn State was victorious in 2016. Ohio State and Wisconsin lead all schools with six Big Ten Championship Game appearances each, followed by Michigan State with three, Iowa, Michigan and Northwestern with two each, and one title game berth each for Nebraska, Penn State and Purdue.

Make sure to visit the Big Ten's social media channels (using the hashtag (#B1GFCG), including the conference's Twitter (@B1GFootball), Facebook (/BigTenConference) and Instagram (@bigten) pages for more information.

Media Portal

[Full Release]

The Big Ten Conference Football Championship Press Conferences will be available for download. To access, use the following link and credentials:

Host: bigtenfootball.hammondcg.com

Username:  bigtenfootball

Password:  b1gt3nfootball2024

The Media Portal uses your web browser (Chrome, Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, etc.) to access, so additional app downloads are not necessary to receive the press conference files.

Files are 1080 HD and will be uploaded on Saturday, December 7^th. Footage will be available on the Media Portal until Monday, January 13, 2025.

For further information, inquires or technical difficulties, please contact Jesse B. Kelsey, Vice-President of Hammond Communications Group, Inc. at 859-492-5768.

Credential Distribution

Media attending the 2024 Discover Big Ten Football Championship Game may pick up credentials at the Southwest Entrance of Lucas Oil Stadium. Credential distribution hours will be 3 –5 p.m. ET on Friday, December 6, and from 4 p.m. ET until halftime on Saturday, December 7. The building will be closed to media on Friday, December 6, with the exception of the Southwest Entrance for credential pickup.

Credential Information

Media will be asked to provide photo identification upon picking up their credentials and will have their credential checked at subsequent entrances. Media will have bags searched and tagged before entering the stadium.

Print and internet writers, radio reporters, and non-broadcast television personnel will be granted Red credentials with a MEDIA designation, which allows access to the press box, press conference, team interview rooms, media hospitality and photo/video workroom, but do not grant access to the field perimeter, team locker rooms, stadium clubs or suite levels.

Print and internet photographers will be granted Green credentials with a PHOTO designation, which allows access to the press box, press conference, team interview rooms, media hospitality and photo/video workroom but do not grant access to team locker rooms, stadium clubs or suite levels. Photographers with Green credentials must wear a gray photo vest to have access to field perimeter (except team bench area).

Credentials with a MEDIA or PHOTO designation will allow admission to Lucas Oil Stadium on Saturday via the media credential pickup location at the Southwest Entrance only.

Media Parking
A limited number of parking passes will be made available to media agencies to park in the South Lot at Lucas Oil Stadium on Saturday, December 7.

Parking accommodations for media on December 7 will be in the South Lot at Lucas Oil Stadium. If you have been approved for parking, a digital parking pass will be sent to your email for the South Lot, which is accessed from Missouri Street. Please note that you must enter the lot from Gate 1.

Due to limited space, no other media parking is available on December 7 for those who did not request parking on their application or had their request for parking denied.

Wireless Internet
Free wireless internet will be available in the press box and the photo workroom on the Event Level.

WIFI Network Name: B1GFCGMedia 
Password: B1GFCG24

Standup Location

Live television coverage will be limited to the designated stand-up location inside Lucas Oil Stadium – Lucas Oil Plaza located on the Street Level on the north side of the stadium. The Big Ten Conference reserves the right to designate the live stand-up location at Lucas Oil Stadium.

With the exception of CBS and BTN, no television stations may produce live or taped video coverage from Lucas Oil Stadium from 6 p.m. ET until CBS and BTN complete their postgame coverage. The only exceptions for television stations will be postgame press conferences and media availability from the team interview rooms.

Photographers

Photographers and messengers must pick up photo vests in the photo workroom located on the Event Level to obtain field access.

Only working photographers and messengers are allowed on the field during the game. All photographers and messengers must wear credentials and photo vests at all times while working on the field. All credentialed individuals (including those wearing vests) must show their credential at all times.

Photographers must stay behind the yellow striped line farthest from the field and outside of the bench area (between the 20-yard lines on both ends of the field) during the entire time they are on the field, with the exception of team entrances pregame, once the game is over (see definition of “game over” below) and the postgame trophy presentation.

Photographers may have access to the southwest and northwest corners of the field as each team takes the field during pregame. The Home Team (#1 Oregon) will enter the field first from the Southwest Tunnel, followed by the Away Team (#2 Penn State) from the Northwest Tunnel.  Each team entrance will have security rope running onto the field. Photographers must stay behind the security rope and return to the sideline once the team has finished entering the field.

The official Big Ten Conference photographer will act in a pool capacity and will be allowed on the field during the team captains meeting with the officials and the coin flip. These photos will be made available to other media outlets upon request.

Photographers, messengers and television personnel from CBS and BTN are not allowed on the field or inside the team bench area until the game is over. “Game over” is defined as follows:

• No time remaining on the clock and one team has a lead.
• No timeouts left and the team in the lead has the ball and there is less than 39 seconds remaining on the game clock and the quarterback has kneeled down to run out the clock.

Anyone violating “game over” rules may result in sanctions for both the individuals and agencies they represent.

Photographers may have access to the field during the postgame trophy presentation. Lucas Oil Stadium will place a stage for the trophy presentation and will position bike racks around the stage, with team, institutional and conference staff allowed inside the rope. A select number of photographers will receive lanyards granting access inside the bike racks, which may include individuals from the institutions, conference and stadium, and television partners. All remaining media will be allowed to capture photos from outside the bike racks. Lucas Oil Stadium will position three small stages outside the bike racks facing the stage to provide an elevated location for television partners (middle stage) and photographers (two outside stages) to capture the trophy presentation. Photographers must pay attention to the location of the CBS or BTN cameras in order to not block their view or bump television platforms.

Photographers may not bring any equipment to the sideline that cannot be carried. There are no on-field storage areas at Lucas Oil Stadium. The Big Ten Conference and Lucas Oil Stadium do not accept any responsibility for equipment brought on the field or left in the media areas.

Photo vests must be returned at the conclusion of the game in the photo/video workroom (Exhibit Hall 1).

Live Stats
Media members wishing to access a live stat feed of the Big Ten Football Championship Game on their laptops may do so by accessing the following site: http://bigtenstats.com 

Interviews – General

Both head coaches and select student-athletes from each team will be made available to the media in the main press conference area in Exhibit Hall 1 after the postgame cooling-off period ends. All television stations and team videographers must take a feed of these Saturday postgame press conferences from the video distribution area. Additional players will be made available to media in the team interview rooms adjacent to each locker room. Locker rooms will not be open to the media following the game.

PLEASE NOTE: The main press conference is transcribed, while the additional interview opportunities in the team interview rooms are not. Players may be made available in the team interview rooms while that team's coach and additional players attend the main press conference. Players that attend the main press conference are not required to also appear in the team interview rooms.

Pre-Game Meal
A pre-game meal will be served to media representatives from 6 p.m.- 8 p.m. ET at Lucas Oil Stadium. Pre-game meals will be available in the press box and photo workroom on Event Level. Halftime and postgame snacks will also be served in both areas.

Shuttle
All credentialed media are encouraged to use the media shuttle. The media shuttle will run between the Courtyard by Marriott/Springhill Suites and Lucas Oil Stadium between 4:00 p.m. Saturday, December 7th and 3:00 a.m. Sunday, December 8th. 

The media shuttle will operate on 30-minute intervals. Pickup from the Courtyard Marriott/Springhill Suites will be in the front roundabout of the Fairfield Inn & Suites located just East of the Marriott/Springhill Suites. Pickup from Lucas Oil Stadium will take place at the Southwest corner of the stadium on South Missouri Street.  

Frequency Coordination

All credential holders operating wireless (RF) equipment must frequency coordinate all wireless devices used anywhere on the property of Lucas Oil Stadium, whether it be pregame, during the game or postgame. Coordination includes all microwave transmissions, wireless microphones, IFB, two-way radios, etc., exclusive of cell phones and pagers. Individuals must have this coordination process completed by the Game Day Coordinator (GDC) prior to arriving on site and using the equipment on game day.

In addition to coordinating frequencies, be advised that any type of interference as identified by the GDC (i.e., high power, spurious radiation, etc.) will require the equipment to be shut down immediately. Failure to coordinate RF equipment could result in revocation of credentials and ejection from the property. In addition, Lucas Oil Stadium policy prohibits the use of WIFI hot spots (i.e., "MyFI").  Individuals can initiate this coordination process by contacting Big Ten Football Championship Game media coordinator Megan Althoff.    

Credential Terms and Conditions

Conditions placed on the use of credentials appears on the back of each credential as follows:

RELEASE AND WAIVER FOR CREDENTIALS

In consideration for The Big Ten Conference, Inc. allowing the holder of this credential to enter Lucas Oil Stadium, the holder of this credential hereby assumes all risks while on the property of Lucas Oil Stadium and waives, discharges, releases and covenants not to sue The Big Ten Conference, Inc., its member institutions and their respective employees and other agents, including Indiana Sports Corporation, Indiana Convention Center and Lucas Oil Stadium from any and all liability, including, without limitation, liability for personal injury or property loss or damage, which the holder of this credential may sustain while in Lucas Oil Stadium.

CONDITIONS PLACED ON USE OF CREDENTIALS

This working credential is subject in all respects to the Media Credential Criteria and Policies set forth by The Big Ten Conference, Inc. as in effect from time to time. This working credential is issued for the sole purpose of providing facility access to an accredited agency’s employee who has a legitimate working function (media or game service) in conjunction with this event. Any alteration, assignment, duplication, modification, sale, or transfer of this credential is expressly prohibited. Violation of the foregoing or any other unauthorized use of this credential subjects the bearer to ejection from the facility and prosecution for criminal trespass, in addition to all other rights or remedies available to The Big Ten Conference, Inc. By using this working credential, the bearer and accredited organization voluntarily assume any and all risks, hazards, and dangers in connection with or incidental or ancillary to this event, including, without limitation, the risk of personal injury, death, exposure to communicable disease, virus, bacteria, or illness, and lost, stolen, or damaged property, and release, waive, and agree to jointly and severally indemnify The Big Ten Conference, Inc. from and against any claim, damage, expense, liability, or loss arising out of or otherwise related to the same. Any secondary use of any picture, photograph, audio description, video, film/tape, drawing or other description of a game taken or made by the accredited organization or individual to whom this credential has been issued (including, but not limited to use in delayed editorial or non-editorial advertising, sales promotion or merchandising) is prohibited without prior explicit written approval of The Big Ten Conference, Inc. Nothing in these terms and conditions allows, authorizes or grants the bearer of these credentials any right in or to the trademarks, copyright and other proprietary rights of The Big Ten Conference, Inc. and its member institutions, each of which are expressly reserved. A maximum of two minutes (2:00) of game video footage (without audio) may be utilized during the seven (7) days following the conclusion of the game solely within regularly scheduled bona fide news programming distributed via television, including such television programming simulcast on the internet, wireless or other forms of media, but otherwise may not be distributed on the internet, wireless or other forms of media. Holder consents to all searches of persons and property.  Holder may not bring alcoholic beverages, bottles, cans or containers, irritants, weapons, projectiles or lasers onto the premises.

Photographing this credential is strictly prohibited.

ACCEPTANCE OF THIS CREDENTIAL CONSTITUTES AGREEMENT BY THE BEARER AND THE BEARER’S ORGANIZATION TO ABIDE BY THE FOREGOING CONDITIONS, INCLUDING ALL OF THE BIG TEN CONFERENCE, INC.’S MEDIA CREDENTIAL CRITERIA AND POLICIES, THE TERMS OF WHICH ARE INCORPORATED HEREIN BY REFERENCE.

General Policies

• Real-time transmission of streaming video, digital images, audio and data, including live game statistics, is exclusive to the official Big Ten Conference website and/or any other website so designated by the conference. All other media outlets are strictly prohibited from transmitting real-time video or audio and/or digital images and/or data.
• Seat assignments in the press box for approved entities will be accommodated on a space availability basis. Media agencies approved for multiple credentials to the Championship Game may not have designated seats for all approved representatives.