Life continues to be good in the Big Ten as schools in the conference can continue to rely on having the nation’s top revenue shares to include in their annual budgets. According to data collected from federal tax records by USA TODAY, the Big Ten generated a total of $845.6 million in revenue, and each of the 11 members receiving a full distribution from the conference received $58.8 million from the conference.
The Big Ten’s full revenue distribution shares are the highest for Power 5 conference schools. Schools in the SEC receive the second-highest revenue shares with $49.9 million per school from the SEC’s $802 million revenue pot. When it comes to revenue numbers, the Big Ten and SEC are well ahead of the other power conferences, with the Big Ten holding a slight edge over the SEC.
Nebraska, Maryland, and Rutgers did not receive a full revenue distribution share as the newest members of the conference, although their time for full shares will be coming up soon. The Big Ten will also be adding USC and UCLA in 2024 to the conference. How the revenue figures change once Nebraska, Maryland, and Rutgers are eligible for full distributions and once two more schools are added to the conference remains to be seen, although the Big Ten isn’t exactly hurting for revenue in any scenario in play here.
It is easy to see why schools want to be a part of the Big Ten every year the revenue numbers are reported. For Rutgers, the decision to join a power conference from the American Athletic Conference was an easy one. But Maryland and Nebraska joined from existing power conferences and were clearly upgrading their revenue expectations as a result. In Maryland’s case, joining the Big Ten was the solution to fixing a budget crisis with the athletic department.
USC and UCLA will be joining the Big Ten as the Pac-12 continues to lag behind the conference revenue game. The Pac-12 had the fourth-highest conference revenue in 2022 and is entering tough territory in losing the Trojans and Bruins and still waiting to announce a new media rights deal as it undergoes a restatement of income.
As the Big Ten expects its television viewership to continue to grow annually, so will the revenue numbers. Life is good in the Big Ten.
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