As if you needed any further confirmation, SEC member schools are even more capable of cleansing their collective basses with Benjamins if they so desire.
Friday morning, the conference announced that it has distributed a total of $627.1 million in revenue to its 14 member institutions for the 2017-18 fiscal year, including $23 million in bowl monies. “The average amount distributed from the conference office, excluding bowl money retained by participants, was slightly over $43.1 million per school,” the conference’s release stated.
That $43.1 million figure tops the old league standard of $40.9 each SEC school received for the 2016-17 fiscal year. For comparison’s sake, that number tops the $36.5 million (not including third-tier rights) the Big 12 announced for each of its members in June of this year, but falls well short of the $51 million the majority of Big Ten schools will reportedly receive for the same fiscal year.
At the opposite end of the Power Five spectrum, and for the 2016-17 fiscal year, ACC members received between $25.3 million and $30.7 million and Pac-12 schools received $30.9 million.
“This distribution of revenue to the SEC’s member institutions represents a continued conference-wide commitment to support of our student-athletes in all areas of their college experience,” said SEC commissioner Greg Sankey in a statement. “This revenue is essential in providing outstanding support for all of the young people on our campuses through coaching, equipment, training, academic counseling, medical care and life-skills development. ...
“The revenues generated through SEC athletics programs benefit not only the athletics and academic pursuits of student-athletes but are also instrumental in advancing the academic missions of the Conference’s 14 universities. These distributions are designed to provide each university with the flexibility to invest in unique and significant ways that create positive impacts across their respective campuses. Past uses of funds on our campuses have included the direct transfer of funds, assistance with construction and renovation of academic facilities and support of academic scholarship opportunities and academic programs.”