Big Ten revenue rocketed to $928 million and the conference distributed approximately $63.2 million to each of its 12 longest-standing schools during the 2024 fiscal year (FY2024), USA Today‘s Steve Berkowitz reported Tuesday.
The numbers mark a 5.5% increase in total revenue and a 4.5% increase in per-school payouts compared to the 2023 fiscal year due to new television agreements.
The Big Ten distributed between $63.26 to $63.43 million to 12 of its members, while Rutgers and Maryland, which borrowed money from the conference while they were considered non-vested members from 2014 to 2020, received $61.52 million.
The revenue distributions alone are greater than the total revenue for all but 60 public NCAA D1 schools. Ohio State ($251.6 million) led all schools in total revenue last year, while other Big Ten members Michigan ($210.6 million) and Penn State ($181.2 million) ranked in the top 10.
The FY2024, which ended on June 30, 2024, marks the final year the Big Ten will be a 14-member conference, with USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington officially joining last August.
Most of the conference’s athletic departments have budgeted for around $75 million for the 2025 fiscal year, with Big Ten revenue expected to increase to the $1.2 to $1.4 billion range.
Maryland and Rutgers will receive slightly smaller shares, while Washington and Oregon will receive half-shares until the 2030 fiscal year. USC and UCLA joined the Big Ten as fully vested members.
Big Ten Revenue Distribution
| Fiscal Year | Total Revenue | Per-School Distribution |
| 2019 | $781.5 million | ~$55.6 million |
| 2020 | $768.9 million | ~$54.3 million |
| 2021 | $679.8 million | $43.1–$49.1 million |
| 2022 | $845.6 million | ~$58.8 million |
| 2023 | $879.9 million | ~$60.5 million (longtime); ~$58.9 million (Maryland/Rutgers) |
| 2024 | $928.2 million | ~$63.35 million (longtime); ~$61.5 million (Maryland/Rutgers) |
The Big Ten’s tax return also showed that now-former commissioner Kevin Warren received a $5.75 million bonus during the 2023 calendar year and was credited with over $6.8 million in total compensation that year. He left the conference in April 2023 to take over as President and CEO of the Chicago Bears.
Warren’s bonus was awarded by the Big Ten Council of Presidents and Chancellors “for his accomplishments over his full tenure as commissioner, including his contributions to the new TV rights deal,” a conference spokesperson told USA Today.
The Big Ten surpasses the SEC, which reported $840 million in total revenue and average per-school distributions of approximately $52.5 million to its 14 schools, other than newcomers Oklahoma and Texas.
Like the Big Ten, the SEC is expected to surpass $1 billion in total revenue for the 2025 fiscal year.
The NCAA reported $1.38 billion total revenue for the 2024 fiscal year.
And still Michigan st can’t afford a swim team!
So 75 million isn’t enough to cover mens swimming at Iowa?
To all the Grant House haters, “his” suit sought a portion of these kinds of distributions. The other changes came from other plaintiffs in different suits, and the conferences’ and NCAA’s demands for those changes.
Chump change- I make 63 million before I even put on my pants in the morning
NCAA football & basketball have fully transitioned into a legitimized paid minor league for the NFL & NBA.
I heard Stanford and Cal’s ACC distribution is a $5 coupon for their next DoorDash order.
Bunch of scammers
Turns out there is enough money