Even before the premier of the new SEC Network, which will begin broadcasting in mid-August, the 14 member schools are already cashing in on the revenue created by their various athletic teams and student athletes.
At the conclusion of the annual SEC meetings in Destin, Florida last week, SEC Commissioner Mike Slive had the distinct pleasure of handing out checks to each University totaling a whopping $309,600,000. That’s the split for one year’s participation in SEC sports. Not too shabby, as they say down South.
Each member school received a check for $20,900,000 which set a new record for Southeastern Conference Universities. That’s up from $304.7 million last year and way up over the 2009 figure of $165.9. If you could only get your stocks to grow like that.
The SEC also led the nation, which is led by the other big Power Five schools in total revenue. Schools in the ACC and Big Ten conferences actually received more this year per school than the SEC, but they both have fewer schools.
As expected the Big Ten came in a close second with $290 million with the ACC close on their heels at $293 million. The Pac-12 received over $228 million and the Big 12 brings up the rear with a paltry $212 million.
The Big Ten, which already owns its own network, paid out around $23 million each to its eleven long standing teams and around $15.4 million to the University of Nebraska which joined the conference in 2011.
Similarly, the two new schools in the Big 12, TCU and West Virginia, only got checks for $14 million each while the older member schools each took home a nice $23 million.
The Universities of the Pac-12 each received around $20 million, although they had some add expenses starting up their own Pac-12 Network which will inevitably mean more revenue for everyone.
The Universities of the Atlantic Coast Conference got the biggest paydays of the season receiving over $24 million each in revenues from the ACC.
The SEC also gets another leg up because the conference has virtually no expenses. They pay $1 per year in rent and with the help of ESPN, which will own the SEC Network, set up costs for the new network will be minimal while the expected revenues are predicted to go through the roof.
Very soon now all of the major conferences will boast their own TV networks and those revenues may well be reaching the $30,000,000 mark in the not too distant future.
