The SEC may mean more, but the Big Ten still makes more. That’s according to the tax returns released today by the conferences. The Big Ten led all Power Five leagues with $845.6 million in revenue and a $58.8 average payout to schools.
Total amount distributed by each Power 5 conference PER SCHOOL in 2021-22 fiscal year via @usatodaysports:
Big Ten $58.8 million
SEC $49.9 million
Big 12 $42-$44.9 million
ACC $37.9-$41.3 million
Pac-12 $37 million— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) May 19, 2023
The SEC finished second in terms of highest revenue, although by a significant enough margin to cause a nearly $10 million difference in pay to school between the Big Ten and SEC. The SEC, who reported its numbers in February, brought in $802 million in revenue and paid about $49.9 million to each school.
It’ll be interesting to see how the order of things change moving forward. The Big Ten and SEC, which already are far above the other three Power Five conferences, will likely see significant increases with major additions (USC/UCLA – Big Ten, Texas/Oklahoma – SEC) as well as new lucrative TV deals. Power Five conferences reported $3.3 billion in combined revenue, with the Big Ten ($845.6 million) and SEC ($802 million) combining for approximately half of that.
As for the other conferences, the Big 12 finished with the least amount of revenue among the Power Five leagues but paid out its schools the third- highest amount. Overall the conference reported $480.6 million in revenue and a school payout between $42 – $44.9 million. That payout slightly edges out the ACC ($37.9 million to $41.3 million) and the Pac-12 ($37 million) but falls significantly behind the Big Ten and SEC.
Seeing how the Big 12 fares against the ACC and Pac-12 will be interesting moving forward. Part of the higher payout this year is the inclusion of Texas and Oklahoma, plus only 10 schools to split the money between. Texas and Oklahoma will forgo $100 million from next year that will be distributed among the eight schools that stayed, likely increasing their payouts for the next fiscal year.
The Big 12 will also add four schools (BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF), but it won’t start out at full conference payouts. How much each school will make when all is said and done is unknown and varies significantly across outlets.
Some report that they can go below $40 million a school average, while others report that it may increase to more than $50 million. Regardless, it’s likely to remain on par with the ACC and Pac-12.
That is, of course, if the Pac-12 figures things out.
The league still hasn’t settled on a new TV deal, making its future revenue uncertain. The Pac-12 received the fourth-highest revenue ($580.9 million), but that will be smaller. The conference has to repay Comcast due to overpayments in their TV deal over the years. Each school received, on average, about $37 million, but their future is significantly more uncertain than the Big 12’s. The Big 12 has yet to replace USC and UCLA, has yet to sign a TV deal and still has to repay Comcast.
