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The Big 12 US college sports conference generated revenue of US$426 million during its 2021/22 accounting period, a year-on-year (YoY) increase of almost 25 per cent.
The ‘power five’ conference’s latest revenue figure is also ten per cent up on its pre-Covid-19 pandemic peak. As the Big 12 returned to revenue growth for the first time since the start of the pandemic, the conference confirmed it will distribute a record US$42.6 million to each of its ten current member schools.
According to the Associated Press (AP), revenue is expected to increase again over the next two years as the Big 12 enters the final years of its domestic broadcast partnerships with ESPN and Fox.
“We clearly had some bumps in there,” said Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby. “I think we got all but about three football games played and we got all but about eight basketball games played in 2021.
“So we didn’t take as big a hit as it looked like we could have, when we were sitting in August 2020 and not knowing if we were even going to play football.
“We came through it better than we could have, that’s for sure.”
The news of record incomes will buoy the four new colleges set to join the Big 12 in the coming years. As part of a broader shakeup in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) conference picture, the University of Cincinnati, University of Houston, Brigham Young University (BYU) and the University of Central Florida (UCF) are all set to join the Big 12 after being offered invitations in September 2021.
Cincinnati, Houston and UCF could join as early as July 2023, as the colleges remain in talks with the American Athletic Conference (AAC) over a leaving settlement that is reportedly set to fall between US$17 million and U$20 million. Their arrivals will fill the void left by Oklahoma and Texas, who are departing the Big 12 to join the Southeastern Conference (SEC).
A new commissioner will also be overseeing this period of change with incumbent Bowlsby having announced earlier this year that he will step down. The Big 12 has hired recruitment firm TurnkeyZRG to look for a replacement and is set to announce Bowlsby’s successor in July.
Texas Tech president Lawrence Schovanec, who is also chairman of the Big 12 board and one of three university leaders on the executive search committee, told the AP that confirmation of the new commissioner’s appointment is expected at the conference football media days, which are scheduled for 13th and 14th July.
Schovanec told reporters that there were a lot of candidates for the position and that the incoming conference members would “have a voice” in the final interview process.
“In preparing for the search, what [TurnkeyZRG] realised was that there was a great alignment among our conference in terms of the vision and the strengths that we need,” said Schovanec. “So [the shortlist] pool reflects a diversity of candidates in their professional experience, some from the more traditional athletic administrative roles and then others.”
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