You have to understand how the BTN makes its money. It's not about ratings. Instead, the lion's share of BTN revenue comes from subscriber fees. That is, a portion of every single cable bill of every single household that has the BTN goes to that channel, whether they watch it or not. That could range from $.10 per subscriber per month in non-Big Ten regions, and around $.70 - $.80 per subscriber per month in the Big Ten states. When you're talking about 50 million or more households paying that much per month (once again, regardless of whether those households actually watch the channel), you're looking over a couple of hundred million dollars per year of revenue for the Big Ten... and that's before the channel sells a SINGLE commercial. It's pretty easy to see why the BTN is so important to the Big Ten schools.
So, this is how hockey plays into it. College hockey nationally draws low ratings, but there is fairly strong interest in the sport specifically in the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan. Adding a full slate of hockey can justify the BTN to raise subscriber rates in those states. Even just a small increase in rates in only those states ($.05 to $.10 per subscriber per month) can yield a few million dollars more per year for the Big Ten for creating a hockey league, which simply wouldn't be possible in any other way. That's how a separate hockey league can make money fairly quickly for the conference.
It's also ironic that the fans from Minnesota appear to be main source of Big Ten fans that are vehemently opposed to the BTHC. Minnesota has arguably gained more financially from the BTN than ANY other Big Ten school - it's a traditional power in neither football nor basketball, so it's basically rode the coattails of the Penn States of the world to make more TV money than the vaunted Notre Dame NBC football contract. Yes, that's how much Minnesota (and every other Big Ten school) is making now due to the BTN. Minnesota has made untold amounts of money that it hasn't contributed to specifically because of Big Ten football (and with props to Penn State in particular as its choice to join the Big Ten instead of the Big East basically ensured that the Big Ten would be the most popular college football conference on the East Coast forever).
Minnesota's financial gain from Penn State over the past decade is absolutely obscene and as a result, there is not a single iota of sympathy whatsoever from the rest of the Big Ten for the Gophers losing any WCHA rivalries (especially when it's Penn State bringing a new hockey program into the fold). None. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Minnesota's athletic department is making around 10 times the amount of TV money compared to schools like Boise State and 5 times the amount of TV money compared to even BCS schools like Syracuse and Pitt. The last people on Earth that should EVER complain about the Big Ten are Minnesota fans. They are rich beyond belief in a manner that about 100 other schools in Division I would kill for specifically because of the Big Ten and the BTN (not the WCHA). Don't bite the hand that feeds you (and feeds you unbelievably well).
