League tax returns shows that six Div. I-A conferences
take in from $47-76M every year, according to Adam Rubin in
a special report in Sunday's BIRMINGHAM NEWS. Rubin wrote
that "a couple of those make more in interest than many of
the small-dollar leagues do in total revenue." Tax returns
for 29 Div. I-A conferences for '97-98 -- the latest year
for which a complete set is available -- "demonstrate the
financial gap and help explain why the six rich conferences
enjoy national athletic domination." The Big Ten generated
the highest revenue during the '97-98 academic year with
$75.9M, followed by the SEC with $74.8M, the ACC with
$68.2M, the Big 12 with $63.2M, the Pac-10 with $48.0 and
the Big East with $47.8M. Schools from those six
conferences won 27 of 32 NCAA Div. I titles, excluding
football, which is divided into I-A and I-AA. Twenty
leagues generated less than $2.7M, and schools from those
conferences won one national title -- in water polo. The
following lists the ten highest-compensated Div. I-A
commissioners during the '97-98 school year as detailed by
tax returns and printed in the BIRMINGHAM NEWS (12/19):
CONF. NAME TOTAL $$ CONF. NAME TOTAL $$
SEC Roy Kramer $386,563 Big East Mike Tranghese $271,074
Big 10 Jim Delaney $362,398 Big 12 Steve Hatchell $210,869
ACC ^ John Swofford $315,476 WAC Karl Benson $206,082
Gene Corrigan
Pac-10 Thomas Hansen $312,440 Atl. 10 Linda Bruno $197,684
C-USA Mike Silve $276,711 Sun Belt Craig Thompson $197,459
^ = ACC includes total of Swofford and Corrigan, both
of whom served during the '97-98 academic year.
