On Thursday, Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark announced that the conference distributed $558 million in revenue to its 16 member institutions for the 2024-2025 athletic year. The $558 million, which was a Big 12 record, was not evenly distributed.
BYU, Houston, UCF, and Cincinnati received partial shares, estimated to be $19 million each according to comments made by Yormark last year. If the $19 million estimate is accurate, that would leave approximately $40 million to the other Big 12 schools. This is the last time revenue will be unequally distributed.
When the new media deal kicks in, all 16 schools will get full and equal revenue shares, originally estimated to be around $50 million each including NCAA Tournament and bowl payouts.
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. The conference offered full shares to Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and Arizona State to lure them from the Pac-12.
However, 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 incorrectly 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 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 will be allowed to share revenue with their athletes. The 2025-2026 season is the first time BYU will experience the full financial benefits of a P4 league.
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