Amount of cash SEC schools earn will surprise you

Published 10:23 pm Friday, February 1, 2019

Being a part of one of the most powerful college athletic conferences in the country has its perks — lots of them. But ave you ever wondered just how much cash the SEC generates?

It’s enough to provide a shockingly high royalty to SEC member schools.

Each of the Southeastern Conference’s 14 members received an average of slightly over $43.1 million in revenue distribution from the league office during the 2017-18 fiscal year.

Subscribe to our free email newsletter

Get the latest news sent to your inbox

That figure announced Friday by SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey excludes bowl money retained by participants.

Sankey said the 14 schools divided about $627.1 million in total revenue. That includes $604.1 million distributed from the league office as well as $23 million that was retained by schools that participated in 2017-18 bowl games to offset travel and other bowl-related expenses.

The total distribution amount comes from revenue generated from television contracts, bowl games, the College Football Playoff, the SEC football championship game, the SEC men’s basketball tournament, NCAA championships and a supplemental surplus fund.

Last year each school received about $40.9 million.