Power 5 conference revenues varied greatly for 2020-21 season

[Halldan1]

Conference revenues vary in '20-21 amid COVID

Power 5 conference revenues varied greatly during the 2020-21 season, largely because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

www.espn.com

Andrea Adelson
ESPN Senior Writer

The ACC and Pac-12 released their financial data for the 2020-21 season on Friday, and most notably, the conferences saw their revenues impacted in a different way during the coronavirus pandemic.

While the ACC 990 form shows total revenue was more than $578.3 million, the highest gross revenue in league history, the Pac-12 reported total revenues of $344 million -- down 36% over the previous year.

The ACC saw a 16.4% increase in revenues compared to 2019-20, the largest growth with the current membership, and distributed an average of $36.1 million per school. The Pac-12 reported an average distribution of $19.8 million per school, a decrease of 41% over the previous year. In a statement, the Pac-12 attributed those numbers primarily to decreased media rights and postseason bowl revenues, game cancellations, lower event revenue due to no fans, and higher costs associated with COVID-19 health and safety protocols and testing.

While the Pac-12 did not play a full football season during the coronavirus pandemic, the ACC scheduled an 11-game season. Though the ACC had its own game cancellations, the bulk of the conference schedule was played, and that helped contribute to its financial success. The league did spend $2.5 million on medical testing during the pandemic.

Also helping the ACC: Notre Dame participated as a full-time football team for this one year as a result of the pandemic, which not only helped the overall revenue but allowed the Irish to gain an equal share of the revenue distribution.

The SEC scheduled a 10-game conference football season and saw its revenues increase as well. In February, the league announced $777.8 million in total revenue was divided among its 14 schools, with an average of $54.6 million per school. That also was an increase over the previous year, in which $657.7 million in revenue was distributed.

USA Today obtained the tax returns for the Big Ten and Big 12. Both conferences saw a decrease in their revenues over the previous season as well. The Big Ten reported nearly $680 million in revenue for 2021, down $89 million, while the Big 12 reported $53 million less in revenue.

 

[CL82]

These numbers are so daunting when you think about them. Eventually, non-P5 schools are going to be priced out of the market for quality coaches and will fall well behind in facilities. You can see it coming, but there’s not a thing that we can do about it.

While hope always springs eternal, it appears that UConn is going to be on the wrong side of this divide. The plus side is at least we will be playing against schools I actually give a damn about. So there’s that.

The more interesting question is where does the split take place? Have the Big Ten and the SEC already left the rest of the P5 behind?

 

[walshtrips]

Average cost to run a Big Ten football program exceeds $32 million a year.

 

[SOBO1]

These numbers are so daunting when you think about them. Eventually, non-P5 schools are going to be priced out of the market for quality coaches and will fall well behind in facilities. You can see it coming, but there’s not a thing that we can do about it.

While hope always springs eternal, it appears that UConn is going to be on the wrong side of this divide. The plus side is at least we will be playing against schools I actually give a damn about. So there’s that.

The more interesting question is where does the split take place? Have the Big Ten and the SEC already left the rest of the P5 behind?

I agree for football but not for basketball. There is more basketball talent than there are spots in P5 schools. There are only 320 starters in P5, there are way more then 320 high major players…and kids will always choose starting over the bench.