Big Ten outpaced SEC with $880 million in revenue for 2023 fiscal year with most schools getting $60.5 million

The Big Ten Conference had nearly $880 million in total revenue and distributed about $60.5 million to each of its 12 longest-standing schools during its 2023 fiscal year, the conference’s newly released federal tax records show.

The figures represent about a 4% increase in total revenue and a nearly 3% increase in per-school payouts compared to those in fiscal 2022.

Both the revenue total and the per-school number kept the Big Ten ahead of the Southeastern Conference, which released its tax returns in February. The SEC reported nearly $853 million in revenue and an average of about $51.3 million being distributed to each of its 14 member schools.

The Big Ten’s new document — provided by the conference on Monday in response to a request from USA TODAY Sports — showed that the conference operated at a deficit of just over $17.5 million for the year, but still had net assets totaling $247 million.

Including its distributions to the schools, the Big Ten reported spending just over $897 million in 2023, compared to just over $851 million in 2022.

Big Ten revenues in the bigger picture

All of these figures take on new significance as the NCAA and the Power Five conferences work toward a settlement of a series of antitrust lawsuits that variously seek billions of dollars in damages, as well as an end to the association’s limits on compensation for athletes.

According to a summary of proposed settlements terms first reported by Yahoo! Sports and later obtained by USA TODAY Sports, the NCAA would pay nearly $2.8 billion to settle the damages claims over 10-year period and the remaining Power Four conference schools would begin sharing future revenues with athletes. Part of the money for the damages settlement would come from reductions in the NCAA’s distributions to Division I schools and conferences.

Many Power Four schools would be looking at a tab of more than $20 million a year from the combination of reduced revenue distributions and increased payments to athletes.

However, Big Ten and SEC schools soon will be seeing significant spikes in revenue from new TV agreements and/or increases in rights fees connected to expansion that will occur, beginning with the 2024-25 school year. UCLA, Southern California, Oregon and Washington will be joining the Big Ten; Oklahoma and Texas are entering the SEC.

The conferences also will be benefiting from an expansion of the College Football Playoff to 12 teams from four, but the larger increase in revenue will come after the current playoff deal with ESPN expires after the 2025 season.

Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti's pay

The conference’s current commissioner Tony Petitti moved into that job in May 2023, so his pay is not reported on this return, which covers employee pay for the 2022 calendar year.

Then-commissioner Kevin Warren, now the Chicago Bears’ president and CEO, was credited with just over $3.7 million in total compensation from the Big Ten in 2022. This included $2.9 million in base pay and nearly $785,000 in retirement and other deferred  pay. His base pay was unchanged from 2021. His deferred pay increased by about $100,000.

Jim Delany, who retired from the Big Ten in the middle of 2020, was credited with a net total of nearly $3.1 million in pay that represented the fifth year’s worth of money from the more than $20 million in future bonuses for which he became eligible in July 2015 and the conference said he will be receiving over a 10-year span, running through the 2027 calendar year. In addition, during the 2022-23 fiscal year, Delany Advisory Inc., received $400,000 for what the new tax record described as consulting services.

In addition, the return shows that BLACCA Enterprises, LCC, of Madison, Wis., received just over $750,000 in fiscal 2023 for consulting services. Big Ten chief financial officer Laura Anderson said that firm is operated by former Wisconsin athletics director and football coach Barry Alvarez, and that it worked media rights and other matters.

Also, not coincidental to the Big Ten’s part in the college sports antitrust entanglements, the return shows that the conference had nearly $5 million in outside legal expenses in fiscal 2023, up from just over $3.1 million a year earlier.

Explaining differences in Big Ten distributions for schools

The Big Ten’s per-school distributions grew by lower rate than its total revenue in fiscal 2023, as Nebraska received a full profit-share from the Big Ten Network for the first time and other relative newcomers, Maryland and Rutgers, moved closer to full profit shares, Anderson said.

The conference’s advance of money to Maryland after it joined in the conference in 2014 also impacted conference revenue and revenue-distribution figures for 2023, Anderson said. The deficit for this year resulted from the conference having recognized certain revenues in 2018 that it used as an advance to Maryland, whose repayments have gone to the other 12 schools that were in the conference when it joined. In fiscal 2023 Maryland and Rutgers each received about $2 million less than the other 12 Big Ten schools did, the return shows.