The Big Ten joined the Southeastern Conference in crossing the $1 billion mark in total revenue for the 2024-25 fiscal year, marking a significant uptick in payouts to its member schools.
The league reported roughly $1.47 billion in total revenue in its federal tax filing for the term running from July 2024 to June 2025, which covered the first year of westward expansion that brought in UCLA, USC, Washington and Oregon from the Pac-12. That was up from the previous total of roughly $928.1 million in 2023-24, an increase of roughly 58%.
And for schools, that meant a healthy increase in payouts from the league office, driven largely by the Big Ten's lucrative TV deal with Fox, CBS and NBC.
The league distributed an average of nearly $79.9 million to schools that received a full share, up from roughly $63.1 million for 2023-24. Those payouts were highlighted by College Football Playoff champion Ohio State receiving roughly $91.6 million followed by fellow CFP teams Penn State (roughly $88.9 million) and Indiana ($81.0 million).
Oregon and Washington received reduced shares as part of their deal that secured a spot in the Big Ten to follow USC and UCLA. Oregon received $48.4 million while Washington received $46.7 million.
The Big Ten's tax filing became public three months after the SEC, which reported roughly $1.1 billion in total revenue for 2024-25, up from roughly $839.7 million the previous year. Schools earning full-distribution payments from the SEC received an average of roughly $72.4 million; Oklahoma and Texas received smaller distributions after joining the conference in July 2024 tied to CFP/bowl participation and designated NCAA funds.
The other leagues in the Power Four, the Atlantic Coast Conference and Big 12, haven't yet released their annual tax filings covering the 2024-25 season.
This graph shows how the Big Ten and SEC have increased revenue over the last decade.
(Associated Press)
