The Big Ten Conference has total revenue of about $880 million and distributed about $60.5 million to each of its 12 oldest schools during fiscal year 2023, according to new federal tax records released by the conference. .
The numbers represent an approximately 4% increase in total revenue and nearly a 3% increase in per-school payments compared to 2022.
In both total revenue and per-school numbers, the Big Ten surpassed the Southeastern Conference, which released its tax returns in February. The SEC reported that it had approximately $853 million in revenue, with an average of approximately $51.3 million distributed among its 14 member schools.
New Big Ten documents provided by the conference on Monday in response to a request from USA TODAY Sports show the conference operated at a deficit of just over $17.5 million for the year but still had total net assets of $247 million.
Including distributions to schools, the Big Ten reported spending just over $897 million in 2023, compared to just over $851 million in 2022.
Big Ten revenue picture
All of these figures take on new importance as the NCAA and the Power Five conferences work to settle a series of antitrust lawsuits that seek billions of dollars in damages in various ways and eliminate the associations’ limitations on compensation to players.
According to a summary of the proposed settlement terms, first reported by Yahoo! Power Four conference schools will begin sharing future revenue with athletes. Some of the damages would come from cuts in the NCAA’s distribution to Division I schools and conferences.
Many Power Four schools could be on the hook for more than $20 million a year between reduced revenue sharing and increased payments to players.
But Big Ten and SEC schools will soon see a significant jump in revenue from new TV deals starting in the 2024-25 school year and increased rights fees associated with expansion. UCLA, Southern California, Oregon and Washington will join the Big Ten. Oklahoma and Texas join the SEC.
Conferences will also benefit from the expansion of the College Football Playoff from four to 12 teams, but the biggest boost in revenue will come after their current playoff contracts with ESPN expire after the 2025 season.
Big Ten Commissioner Tony Pettetti’s Compensation
The conference’s current commissioner, Tony Petitti, started his position in May 2023, so his salary is not reported on this return for employee compensation for the 2022 calendar year.
Then-commissioner Kevin Warren, now president and CEO of the Chicago Bears, was credited with receiving just over $3.7 million in total compensation from the Big Ten in 2022. That includes $2.9 million in base salary and about $785,000 in severance and other deferred pay. His base salary remained unchanged from 2021. His deferred pay increased by about $100,000.
Jim Delaney, who retired from the Big Ten in mid-2020, received a net amount of approximately $3.1 million, equivalent to five years of the more than $20 million in future bonuses he became eligible for in July 2015. The conference announced that Delaney will receive the award over a 10-year period until 2027. Additionally, in fiscal year 2022-23, Delaney Advisory received $400,000 for what new tax records describe as consulting services.
Additionally, the report found that BLACCA Enterprises, an LCC in Madison, Wisconsin, received just over $750,000 in fiscal year 2023 for consulting services. Big Ten Chief Financial Officer Laura Anderson said the company was run by former Wisconsin athletics director and football coach Barry Alvarez and handled media rights and other issues. Stated.
And, not coincidentally, the Big Ten’s involvement in antitrust matters related to college sports means the conference’s outside litigation costs will be nearly $5 million in 2023, up from just over $3.1 million the previous year, according to the report. ing.
Explaining the differences in the Big Ten distribution for schools
The Big Ten’s per-school distribution for fiscal year 2023 will increase as Nebraska receives a full profit share for the first time from the Big Ten Network and other relative newcomers Maryland and Rutgers approach full profit distribution. The growth rate was lower than total revenue. Anderson said.
Anderson said the conference’s advance payment of money to Maryland after the state joined the conference in 2014 also affected the conference’s revenue and revenue-sharing figures for 2023. This year’s deficit is due to the conference recognizing certain revenue in 2018 as an advance to Maryland, which was then paid back to the other 12 schools that were in the conference when it joined. Maryland and Rutgers received about $2 million less each in revenue for fiscal year 2023 than the other 12 Big Ten schools, the return reports showed.
