BYU Received Unequal Revenue Share in First Big 12 Season

Casey Lundquist | Jun 1, 2024

Oct 21, 2023; Provo, Utah, USA; Brigham Young Cougars running back Aidan Robbins (3) reacts to a play against the Texas Tech Red Raiders in the second half at LaVell Edwards Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-USA TODAY Sports / Rob Gray-USA TODAY Sports

On Friday, Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark announced that the conference distributed $470 million in revenue to its 14 member institutions for the 2023-2024 athletic year. The $470 million, which was a Big 12 record, was not evenly distributed. The 10 original schools, including Texas and OU received $39.8 million each. BYU, Houston, UCF, and Cincinnati received $18 million each.

The amount paid to the four new schools will grow to $19 million next year before the new media deal kicks off in 2025. At that point, the four new schools will get full and equal revenue shares, estimated to be around $50 million each.

When BYU joined the Big 12 a few years ago, the original plan was to bring in BYU, UCF, Cincinnati, and Houston at partial revenue shares until the new media deal commenced in 2025.

Last year, there was some confusion about revenue distribution once the Big 12 added the four schools from the Pac-12. Baylor Director of Athletics Mack Rhoades joined 365 Sports where he discussed the plan for distribution. In that interview, he revealed that the conference planned to equally distribute revenue to all 16 members of the new conference.

"All 16 of us will be created equal in terms of the conference revenue distribution," Rhoades said. "We certainly think that's the right model for us. I know that was really important to all of our members. Not just the four coming in, not just the four that we recently added, but even the original eight. We all think that's the best way for us to have cohesion and unity moving forward."

Then, the Big 12 released a statement on Wednesday walking back the comments from Rhoades:

“The two-year revenue distribution phase-ins for BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF remain unchanged by the Big 12’s expansion to 16 members.”

BYU's revenue increase comes at a good time, when schools could be allowed to share revenue with their athletes.