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The Big 12's AD meetings are going on right now, and one of the major pieces of news to come out concerns the cut each school will receive from overall conference revenue. Baylor's share, it has been reported, will be a record $23 million, a sum that will go a long way toward making good the school's overall athletic budget.
From our friend David Ubben:
Big 12 has $221 million in revenue, will hold back $7.8 million for legal fees, unforeseen future.
— David Ubben (@davidubben) May 30, 2014
Eight Big 12 teams will earn $23 million this year. WVU, TCU will earn just under $14 million.
— David Ubben (@davidubben) May 30, 2014
I thought this next tweet was particularly relevant. Keep this in mind when you hear people talk about the explosion of money in college athletics, football in particular, as part of the dialogue on whether we should pay players.
Big 12 annual revenue distribution history. $212 million this year. pic.twitter.com/E33MpIgoiu
— David Ubben (@davidubben) May 30, 2014
In a little over a decade, the Big 12's conference revenue has nearly tripled. The share each school receives, although not specified by the above graphic, has probably tripled with the relative shrinking of the conference from 12 to 10 teams. Also, it's important to remember that prior to the latest round of realignment, the Big 12 did not have equal revenue sharing. We do now. All that to say that Baylor's financial situation has improved dramatically in recent years, and it is extremely important we position ourselves to retain this windfall into the future.