The Big Ten Conference has reached a milestone with its announcement of a historic $1.37 billion revenue distribution among its 18 member universities for the 2024-25 fiscal year, following conference expansion and strong performance in the College Football Playoffs during the 2024 season.
This achievement makes the Big Ten the second collegiate athletic conference to surpass the $1 billion mark. Earlier, the Southeastern Conference revealed it had distributed $1 billion among its 16 member schools in February, marking a $200 million jump from the previous fiscal year.
The Big Ten’s massive $1.37 billion payout reflects a substantial $487 million increase compared to the 2023-24 fiscal year. Two key drivers behind this surge were the conference’s addition of UCLA, Southern California, Oregon and Washington in August 2024, plus the playoff appearances of Indiana, Oregon, Ohio State and Penn State in the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff format during December and January.
Ohio State claimed the 2024 national championship with a 34-23 victory over Notre Dame in Atlanta on January 20, 2025. The Buckeyes’ athletic program received the conference’s largest distribution at $91.57 million, while Penn State, which reached the national semifinals in football, collected $88.29 million.
Established full-time conference members received distributions ranging from $76.01 million to $79.87 million, while newcomers Oregon and Washington collected $48.4 million and $46.7 million respectively. UCLA and USC, classified as fully-vested members, received the higher distribution amounts.
