A USA TODAY Sports analysis shows that public-school athletics departments in the Southeastern and Big Ten conferences each collectively combined for more than $2 billion in operating revenue during their 2022 fiscal years.
That data was collected from financial reports the schools provide annually to the NCAA, along with those that USA TODAY Sports obtained in partnership with the Knight-Newhouse Data project at Syracuse University.
The numbers for the SEC and Big Ten — along with the others in the Power Five — showed a significant, expected rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic. But when taking inflation into account, neither the combined revenue nor the combined spending of the 52 Power Five public schools in 2022 returned to pre-pandemic levels.
The figures illustrate some of the stark disparities preexisting among the Power Five conferences. Those disparities seem almost certain to get even wider starting in the 2024-25 school year when the Oklahoma Sooners and Texas Longhorns — the two powerhouse schools of the Big 12 — will move to the SEC, while the Pac-12 will lose the UCLA Bruins and USC Trojans to the Big Ten.
In 2022, when money from student fees and forms of institutional and government support is not counted, there was a $62.1 million difference between the median revenue generated by an SEC school and that generated by a Pac-12 school.
For some context, in 2022, only nine public schools outside the Power Five conferences had more than $62.1 million in total operating expenses for their entire athletics program.
Using median values for their schools’ revenues, rather than the averages, the conferences ranked in the following order:
SEC: $159.1 million.
Big Ten: $150.1 million.
ACC: $134.4 million.
Pac-12: $117 million.
Big 12: $110.7 million.
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