K-State To Receive $22 Million From Big 12

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

In an announcement made earlier this afternoon, Big 12 Commissioner Robert Bowlsby provided revenue numbers for the Big 12 and the results look pretty good for a conference in the throes of death just two years ago. In sum, the conference raked in $198 million to be dispersed among its members this year. K-State will receive a $22 million cut of this amount – larger than any SEC school receives from its conference agreements.

The $198 million is not distributed equally as the remaining eight original members of the league receive a larger portion of the total. Those eight each receive $22 million, while newcomers West Virginia and TCU are due $11 million apiece. The SEC, on the other hand, brought in $289.4 million last year, amounting to a payout of $20.7 million per school. With 14 teams as opposed to 10, the SEC has more mouths to feed. In addition, Missouri and Texas A&M are already fully vested in the conference (part of their preconditions for

jumping ship

switching conferences) and receive a full share.

However, both of these sums are small compared to the bacon roasting up north. The Big 10 increased its annual revenue by $50 million and stands at $315 million for the fiscal year. This amount allows for a disbursement of $24.7 million per member. Nebraska came into the Big 10 under circumstance similar to West Virginia and TCU and will not receive a full share until 2017 under its agreement.

In a sport that seems to get a little more corrupted by the almighty dollar every year, the arms race continues…