Big Ten and SEC top conferences in revenue (e-edition)
Published 6:35 pm Friday, May 24, 2024
The Big Ten held a narrow edge over the Southeastern Conference in revenue for the second straight year and the Atlantic Coast Conference again ranked a distant third among the five largest college sports conferences, according to tax filings released this week.
The five leagues combined to generate $3.55 billion in the 2022-23 fiscal year, with the Big Ten reporting revenue of $879.9 million compared with $852.6 million for the SEC.
The ACC saw the most significant increase, going from $617 million in 2021-22 to $707 million. The Pac-12 generated $603.9 million.
The Big 12 was fifth at $510.7 million.
The details were disclosed in the same week all five conferences and the NCAA agreed to pay a total of $2.8 billion to settle antitrust litigation that is expected to also lead to the creation of a first-of-its-kind revenue-sharing system where schools will directly pay their athletes for the first time.
The Big Ten and SEC have emerged as super-conferences after a wave of realignment led to schools leaving one league for another over the past two years. The most dramatic development from that was the demise of the Pac-12, but the earning power of the Big Ten and SEC is also a major development, feeding angst and concerns among the remaining conferences.
Twelve of the 14 Big Ten schools each received about $60.5 million from the conference, with 2014 additions Maryland and Rutgers getting about $58.8 million apiece.
The SEC distributed $51 million to each school. Each ACC school received between $43.3 million and $46.9 million; Notre Dame, an independent in football, received $22.1 million.
Big 12 schools received distributions ranging from $43.8 million to $48.2 million. The Pac-12 distributed about $33.6 million to each of its members, down from $36 million the previous year.