KANSAS CITY--Though it's not an issue that will ultimately push schools to leave, Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe slammed the door shut on any chance of the Big 12 restructuring it's conference revenue structure in order to keep schools like Nebraska and Missouri from leaving.
"Revenue distribution's been very well vetted within the conference and the board has determined that our method of distribution, which was appropriate when the conference was formed, based upon what was needed to form the conference, is one that will continue," Beebe said. "One athletics director that's been on the side of wanting more equal distribution said, 'It's not necessarily discriminatory. I've come around to a different view. If my program is elevated, which it has been recently, and I get more appearances, I get more money."
Beebe declined to name said athletic director, but that certainly sounds like words that could come from Missouri athletic director Mike Alden. Beebe added that there are people within the conference that would perhaps prefer a different method, but said "I don't know that if you threw all these schools together and they had the option, that it would be done any differently."
Big 12 schools share half of their television revenue equally between the 12 programs within the conference. Schools that play in more televised games receive a greater share of the other half.
The last year revenue data was made public was 2007, and here's who earned how much, according to the Omaha World-Herald:
1. Texas: $10.2 million
2. Oklahoma: $9.8 million
3. Kansas: $9.24 million
4. Texas A&M: $9.22 million
5. Nebraska: $9.1 million
6. Missouri: $8.4 million
7. Texas Tech: $8.23 million
8. Kansas State: $8.21 million
9. Oklahoma State: $8.1 million
10. Colorado: $8.0 million
11. Iowa State: $7.4 million
12. Baylor: $7.1 million
Big Ten teams received a reported $22 million over the last fiscal year, up from $14 million in the 2006-07 fiscal year, in part because of the success of the Big Ten Network, which launched in August 2007.
According to a report in the Lincoln Journal Star, the network generated $204 million in revenue in 2009.
