Rutgers received a smaller revenue-share amount in FY '18 due to a $14M loan it received from the conferenceGETTY IMAGES
The Big Ten recorded nearly $759M in revenue during FY '18, a figure that "far exceeds any comparable annual figure for a college sports conference," according to Steve Berkowitz of USA TODAY. It marks a year-over-year increase of 48%, with the conference reaching $512.9M in FY '17. The SEC in February reported just under $660M in revenue for FY '18. The Big Ten revenue total was "driven by new TV agreements that took effect" at the start of the '17-18 school year and "resulted in payments of roughly" $54M to each of the 14-team conference’s 12 longest-standing members. Maryland and Rutgers "received smaller revenue-share amounts, but both schools also received loans from the conference against future revenue shares." Maryland’s loan from the Big Ten in FY '18 was just under $31M, bringing its total loan amount to more than $66M during its first four years in the conference. Rutgers’ loan from the conference -- $14M -- is its first. Meanwhile, Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany earned just over $5.5M in total compensation for the '17 calendar year, also a "single-year record for a conference." His compensation total surpasses the nearly $4.8M that the Pac-12 reported paying Commissioner Larry Scott in '16 (USATODAY.com, 5/15).
