Despite the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic that affected some revenue streams, the Southeastern Conference managed to fractionally increase its overall income and its per-school payouts during its 2019-20 fiscal year.
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The conference had $729 million in total revenue for a fiscal year ending Aug. 31, 2020, according to a federal tax return that the conference provided Thursday in response to a request from USA TODAY Sports. As a result, the conference distributed roughly $45.5 million to each of its 14 member schools.
In addition to the revenue shares, the schools that participated in 2019-20 football bowl games retained a combined total of $20 million to “offset travel and other related bowl expenses”, according to a statement by the conference.
For its 2019 fiscal year, the SEC reported $720.6 million in total revenue and per-school distributions of nearly $45.3 million to the 13 schools that received full shares. Mississippi did not get a full share because its football team had been banned from postseason play.
For now, the SEC continues to trail the Big Ten Conference in terms of revenue. For the 2019 fiscal year, the Big Ten reported nearly $782 million in total revenue, and the 12 of its 14 schools that got full shares received about $55.7 million. Based on schools’ recent financial disclosures, those shares will be in the same range for the 2020 fiscal year.
The Big Ten generally does not file its federal tax return until the spring. So, its revenue total for fiscal 2019 has not been made public. However, through open-records requests, USA TODAY Sports has obtained fiscal 2019 financial reports to the NCAA for nine of the 12 schools receiving full shares.
The SEC’s new tax return showed that commissioner Greg Sankey was credited with just over $2.9 million in total compensation for the 2019 calendar year, including just over $2.8 million in base compensation. That represents a more than $400,000 increase in base salary over the amount reported for him for 2018 and a a more than $350,000 increase overall (other elements of Sankey’s compensation declined in 2019, according to the return).
In addition, the tax return showed that the SEC spent a little more than $340,000 on lobbying during the 2020 fiscal year. While that is relatively little in the SEC’s overall financial picture, the conference had $0 in lobbying expenses in any prior year. Like other Power Five conferences, the SEC has ramped up lobbying amid increased legislative action on the issue of college athletes’ ability to make money from their names, images and likenesses.
The SEC’s revenue from the NCAA declined, as the association had to dramatically decrease payouts after canceling the Division I basketball tournaments due to the pandemic. But the SEC reported spending about $10 million less on postseason events. It also collected money from an event-cancelation insurance policy on last season’s SEC men’s basketball tournament.
Meanwhile, the conference’s TV and radio rights fees revenue increased by about $20 million compared to fiscal 2019.
Follow colleges reporter Steve Berkowitz on Twitter @ByBerkowitz
No. 17 Mike Leach, Mississippi State: $ 5,000,000. Leach received a $1.25 million raise by leaving Washington State and signing a four-year contract with the Bulldogs. He is eligible to receive up to an additional $1.4 million in bonuses, including a $1 million reward for winning a national championship.
No. 16 Mark Stoops, Kentucky: $ 5,013,600. Stoops receives an annual raise of $250,000 under the terms of his contract. And for every season in which the Wildcats win seven or more games, like last season, his contract is automatically extended by one year. He is on track to reach the $6 million mark in 2024.
No. 15 Mel Tucker, Michigan State: $ 5,057,250. After a one-year stint at Colorado, Tucker moved to East Lansing this offseason and, in doing so, more than doubled his compensation. His contract also includes a lifelong perk: Even after his coaching tenure ends, Tucker is entitled to receive four football season tickets and one parking pass in the lot adjacent to the stadium for the remainder of his life.
No. 14 Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern: $ 5,218,658. Northwestern is a private school, so Fitzgerald’s total compensation is from the university’s most recently available federal tax returns, which cover the 2018 calendar year. The figure also includes bonuses and benefits paid. His total compensation shows a very slight raise of $73,721 from the amount reported for him in 2017.
No. 13 Ryan Day, Ohio State: $ 5,651,694. The Buckeyes in February gave Day a three-year contract extension, boosting his total compensation by $1.25 million this year. And more raises are on the way. According to the contract, Day’s salary is scheduled to grow to $6.5 million during the 2021 season and $7.6 million in 2022.
No. 12 Tom Herman, Texas: $ 5,827,917. As the Longhorns navigate the financial fallout of COVID-19, Herman has agreed to take a pay cut of $516,250, of which $172,083 will be applied during his current contract year. But it also amended his contract to note that it will repay him that amount prior to the contract’s expiration on Dec. 31, 2023.
No. 11 Dan Mullen, Florida: $ 6,070,000. Mullen is in the third year of a six-year contract that is scheduled to pay him the same amount annually. While he has not taken a pay cut during the pandemic, his pension contributions have been discontinued for one year and he will not receive any bonuses until the 2021 season.
No. 10 Gary Patterson, Texas Christian: $ 6,130,937. Because TCU is a private school, Patterson’s total is the one reported on the university’s most recently available federal tax returns, which cover pay for the 2018 calendar year, including benefits and bonuses paid. Patterson’s base pay was reported at just under $5.3 million – over $1 million more than the amount reported for 2017 – and he received $104,000 in bonuses.
No. 9 Lincoln Riley, Oklahoma: $ 6,202,726. The Sooners have won the Big 12 Conference title in each of Riley’s first three seasons as head coach, and the school has renegotiated his contract every year. He’s now working under a six-year deal, and even with the pandemic-related reduction to which Riley agreed, it’s scheduled to increase his pay to more than $7.3 million for the 2021 season.
No. 8 James Franklin, Penn State: $ 6,700,000. In February 2019, Penn State unveiled the terms of a new six-year contract that had been set to give him a $750,000 raise over what he previously had been scheduled to make for this season. The school has said Franklin is taking a pay reduction, but it has declined to provide any further details.
No. 7 Gus Malzahn, Auburn: $ 6,927,589. Malzahn is in the third year of a seven-year contract scheduled to be worth at least $49 million. It includes annual raises of $100,000 and a buyout that will not drop below eight figures until 2023.
No. 6 Kirby Smart, Georgia: $ 6,933,600. Smart’s contract called for a $100,000 increase this season, and it calls for $200,000 increases in each of the next two seasons. In September, the school announced that Smart and his wife are contributing $1 million to the school to help with a new social justice program, scholarships for athletes who had seasons affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and an expansion of the football program’s operations building.
No. 5 Jimbo Fisher, Texas A&M: $ 7,500,000. Fisher’s 10-year deal with Texas A&M is structured in a way that keeps his annual pay from the school unchanged throughout the term. If the school were to fire him without cause in 2020, he would be owed more than $53 million. If he were to leave for another job, he would owe the school $0.
No. 4 Jim Harbaugh, Michigan: $ 8,036,179. Under the seven-year contract he signed in 2014, Harbaugh’s pay from the school was set to go up by more than $500,000 this season. He agreed to a hefty pay reduction because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but he also reported athletically-related income for 2019 that included $250,000 for appearing (along with his khakis) in a commercial for Downy WrinkleGuard.
No. 3 Dabo Swinney, Clemson: $ 8,319,775. Swinney’s recurring annual compensation is unchanged from last season. It was set to increase by $250,000 next season, but he is forgoing the raise, as well as a $1 million retention payment he had been due to receive if remained Clemson’s head coach on Jan. 15, 2021, to help the school deal with the financial strain of the COVID-19 pandemic.
No. 2 Ed Orgeron, LSU: $ 8,918,500. After the Tigers won the College Football Playoff title last season, Orgeron got a new six-year contract. This year, he is making more than double what he made last season, in part, because he is getting the first of two $2.5 million life insurance premium payments by the Tiger Athletic Foundation, which is entitled to reimbursement from the policy’s death benefits. The second payment will be made in 2021.
No. 1 Nick Saban, Alabama: $ 9,300,000. Saban’s pay increased by a previously scheduled $400,000, and it’s set to go up by another $400,000 next season. Now in his 14th season at Alabama, his career earnings from the school – not including incentive bonuses – are set to reach about $85 million in early 2021.
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