It wasn’t a banner day for the Big Ten Thursday, but at least the conference can rest in the comfort of its bloated bank account. For now.
In June of last year, it was reported that Michigan was projecting a total distribution of nearly $56 million from the Big Ten. A little over a year later, Steve Berkowitz of USA Today reports that the 12 long-standing members of the league received $55.6 million for the 2019 fiscal year. As newer members, Maryland and Rutgers receive less, “but both schools also received loans from the conference against future revenue shares,” Berkowitz wrote.
All told, the revenue for the Big Ten was $781.5 million. Next closest was the SEC at $720.6 million, followed by the Pac-12 ($530.4 million), ACC ($455.4 million) and Big 12 ($439 million).
Below are the per-school payouts for each Power Five conference, again according to Berkowitz:
- Big Ten -- $55.6 million (except Maryland, Rutgers)
- SEC -- $45.3 million (except for Ole Miss because of its bowl ban)
- Big 12 -- $38.2-$42 million
- Pac-12 -- $32.2 million
- ACC -- $27.6-$34 million
Berkowitz also noted that Notre Dame, which is a football independent but ACC member in other sports, received $6.8 million. Additionally, when it comes to the Pac-12’s figure, it “does not take into account the equity value of the Pac-12 Networks, the conference’s fully self-owned television and video content provider whose expenses help result in the conference passing less money to its member schools than the other conferences.”
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, though, all of these numbers are expected to look dramatically different at this time next year.