Big 12, SEC Announce Distribution Payouts

Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby announced this week that the league’s eight tenured members will make $22 million in distributions this year — more than the $20.7 million SEC programs expect. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

The SEC and Big 12 announced they will pay out revenue shares of $289 million and $198 million, respectively, this week.

Though the SEC’s overall payout was larger, it is split evenly amongst 14 teams. The Big 12 will not give full shares to conference newbies TCU and West Virginia until 2015-16. That means the tenured eight schools made the majority of the money.

Big 12 schools – except TCU and WVU – will receive $22 million. SEC schools expect $20.7 million.

Bitter fans of Big 12 teams might laugh at Texas A&M and Missouri, saying the two athletic departments lost out on money.

That is actually inaccurate.

While the eight tenured schools in the Big 12 made more money last year than the 14 SEC schools, the number was thrown off because West Virginia and TCU received only half their shares.

Were A&M and Missouri still part of the Big 12, every Big 12 program would have made less because of every league member getting full shares. With fewer mouths to feed, SEC programs, obviously, would have made more than their $20.7 million.

All the conference expansion leaves these numbers as must-watch commodities in the college sports world. Numbers continuing to rise from the aggressive suitors such as the SEC, Pac-12 and Big Ten could mean a continuation of conference realignment. If leagues in defense mode, such as the Big 12, can continue to make the same money as their more expansion-oriented counterparts, raiding other conferences, perhaps, doesn’t make sense.

Speculation is that both the SEC and Big 12 will only see their numbers grow – perhaps exponentially – in the coming years.