Average commissioner pay among the Power 5 conferences "has soared from about" $541,000 to $2.58M in a decade, according to Hobson & Rich of the WASHINGTON POST. As a reward for "making an industry fueled by unpaid athletes more lucrative than ever, the men who run these conferences have enjoyed staggering pay hikes doled out by the leaders of many of America’s largest universities." In '14, Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott made $3.4M, "which is more than six times the $533,000 his predecessor made" in '04 (all '04 figures "have been adjusted for inflation."). Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby made $2.3M, "more than quadruple the $495,000 the position paid a decade before." Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany’s pay "jumped from" $549,000 to $3.1M; ACC Commissioner John Swofford’s "went from" $571,000 to more than $2M; and former SEC Commissioner Mike Slive’s pay "increased from" $558,000 to $2.05M. Even in the "rarified world of American CEOs, these pay hikes stand out." Bowlsby, Swofford and SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey "declined to discuss their pay," while Delany "declined interview requests altogether, instead offering" his CFO. Scott "was the only commissioner to agree to discuss his pay." Scott said, "The trajectory and scope of what the conference is doing is now very different. And, of course, our revenue is different." Hobson & Rich noted chief execs at all 53 public universities in the Power 5 were contacted and asked to comment "explaining why conference commissioners deserved such large raises." Many through spokespersons said that they "were unavailable." Univ. of Minnesota President Eric Kaler, who spoke on behalf of all Big Ten schools, wrote, "Commissioner Delany has provided invaluable leadership for the Big Ten ... during a time of great transformation across college athletics. He has successfully balanced the missions of academic achievement" (WASHINGTON POST, 1/9).
DRAW IT UP: In N.Y., Joe Nocera wrote under the header "A Way To Start Paying College Athletes," and suggested every D-I men's basketball and football team "would have a salary cap." In basketball, the cap "would be $650,000," and in football, it "would be" $3M. Nocera: "I would impose a minimum salary: $25,000 per player in each sport. This would obviously not make the athletes rich." The minimum salaries "consume only half the cap," as the "rest of the money would be used as a recruiting tool, so that a star player could be offered additional money as an inducement to go to a particular university." The player would "make a choice based not on a recruiter’s sweet-talking promises," but on a school's monetary offer. It "would also have other benefits," including allowing schools to "hit up boosters to put money into a fund -- tax-deductible under current law -- to pay the players’ salaries." That would "diminish their incentive to sneak money and benefits to athletes under the table." The contracts between players and universities "could go well beyond compensation." They could "require a player to spend" more years in college, "reducing reliance on one-and-dones" (N.Y. TIMES, 1/9).
BACK TO BACK: The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Andrew Beaton notes college football’s "most valuable program" is Ohio State. OSU "leads the country with a value" of $946.6M. This is the school's "second consecutive year atop the rankings after it overtook Texas, which places second" at $885M and "has the nation’s largest revenue" at $128M. Michigan "places a distant third" at $811.3M (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 1/11).
