BYU Climbed Into Top Half of Big 12 Revenue in Inaugural Big 12 Season

Each year, athletic departments report their annual revenues and expenses to the US Department of Education. It is required per the Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act. Those revenues and expenses become public one year later on the US Department of Education website.

BYU's first season in the Big 12 was from 2023-2024. Therefore, BYU's financial disclosures from their inaugural year in the Big 12 are just now becoming public information. Financially speaking, BYU did very well considering the circumstances. More on the circumstances in a moment. BYU ranked 7th out of 16 Big 12 schools in revenue generated.

Revenue for Big 12 Schools 2023-2024

1. Kansas - $215M
2. Baylor - $148M
3. Colorado - $147M
4. TCU - $142M
5. Arizona - $139M
6. Oklahoma State - $132M
7. BYU - $130M
8. ASU - $127M
9. Texas Tech - $115M
10. Utah - $112M
11. Kansas State - $106M
12. West Virginia - $106M
13. Iowa State - $101M
14. Houston - $99M
15. UCF - $93M
16. Cincinnati - $90M

In BYU's first year, they received a partial revenue distribution from the Big 12 conference. What does that mean in terms of dollars? BYU received $18 million from the Big 12 according to reports. That would leave $39.8 million for the original Big 12 schools. Had BYU earned a full revenue distribution from the conference, it would have been one of the top two or three schools in terms of revenue generated.

The partial revenue arrangement was intended to be temporary. Once the new media contract kicks off in 2025, BYU will receive a full revenue share (same goes for UCF, Houston, and Cincinnati). Of the four schools that joined in 2023, BYU generated at least $30M more in revenue than its newcomer peers.

Kansas generated the most revenue in the conference by a decent margin. That is likely driven by donations. Kansas grew its revenue from $125 million in 2021 to $215 million in 2023. The Jayhawks are constructing a new football stadium, and that's likely the cause for the increase in donations. Donations, sponsorships, ticket sales, and conference distributions are included in the revenue figures.

This list also highlights the Coach Prime effect. The Buffaloes increased their revenue by more than $10 million in 2023 while the revenues of their former Pac-12 peers (Arizona, Utah, Arizona State) were flat to 2022.