Go, Rutgers! Big 10 = big $

Madison Avenue is cheering the news that Rutgers and Maryland are joining the Big Ten.

The move strengthens the appeal of the Big Ten Network across the Northeast and, in turn, gives the Fox Sportsrun network new distribution opportunities.

“People are passionate about where they went to college,” Daniel Cohn, VPand director of broadcast at the ad agency Initiative, which represents clients such as MillerCoors, told The Post.

“[The network] could see a lot of extra ad dollars,” Cohn said.

Gary Carr, the chief TV buyer at TargetCast, added: “I’m guessing that the coverage and rating will be bigger. That alone will make it a better ad buy.”

The addition of the two big universities starting in 2014 will help increase distribution of the network in key markets like New York, Philadelphia and Washington, DC.

The service is already in some 50 million homes.

The Big Ten Network rang up sales of $242 million in 2011, according to SNL Kagan, but is poised to reap additional ad revenue thanks to the bigger potential audience.

The Big Ten Network is viewed as a key asset for Fox, which is attempting to put together a national sports service to rival others including Disney’s ESPN, NBC Sports Network and CBS Sports Network.

ESPN commands almost $5 a month for each subscriber from its distribution partners and is seen as the most lucrative entertainment sector.

Maryland is leaving the Atlantic Coast Conference to join the Big Ten — a move that could lead to the departure of other schools.

That may be a worry for ESPN, which owns broadcast rights for the ACC.

Rutgers is quitting the Big East to join the Big Ten.

Cohn added: “If the Big Ten Network is on a sports tier, this gives them an impetus to make a move to basic.”

The network is distributed by all the main carriers including DirecTV, Dish Network, Verizon FiOS and AT&T UVerse, along with the major cable companies.

It is carried on either expanded basic tier or digital basic tier.