Power 5 conferences generated $3.3 billion in combined revenue last year, according to federal tax filings reviewed by USA Today. It is the highest total ever for the Power 5.
The fiscal 2022 totals reportedly represent a recovery from a pandemic-related decrease in 2021. However, the college football conferences still fall short of where they would have been had their revenues kept increasing at the 8.4% average annual rate they established before the pandemic across 2017, 2018, and 2019.
Had the conferences maintained pre-pandemic average increases for 2020, 2021, and 2022, last year’s fiscal revenue total would be around $3.7 billion.
Here is how the Power 5 conferences rank in terms of fiscal 2022 revenue, per USA Today.
1. Big Ten: $845.6M
2. SEC: $802M
3. ACC: $617M
4. Pac-12: $580.9M
5. Big 12: $480.6M
The combined $3.3 billion in 2022 revenue represents a driving force behind the National Labor Relations Board’s complaint against the NCAA, Pac-12, and the University of Southern California. The NLRB claims that the entities have misclassified USC football and men’s and women’s basketball players as “student-athletes” rather than employees.
The NCAA, Pac-12, and USC will argue against the NLRB in a hearing set for Nov. 7.
