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Welcome back to SporticoU! The theme of this week’s edition? $$$, of course.
Let’s start with some timely news this week: Sportico’s Daniel Libit obtained the Big Ten’s most recent tax return, which shows the conference took in $880 million in the fiscal year stretching from July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2023. That makes the league the top dog in college conference revenue, surpassing fellow super conference the SEC. Big Ten schools received around $60 million each in distribution, and the highest-paid employee was still ex-commissioner Jim Delany. Expect other leagues to release their tax filings soon.
In other financial news, settlement talks in NCAA v. House remain ongoing, and the public continues to watch them take place in real time as news organizations publish leaked proposed terms. This level of public details is unusual, as settlement discussions are ordinarily tightly kept secrets, writes Sportico’s Michael McCann. But there are reasons why this situation has seen so many leaks.
If an agreement is reached in House, it might give rise to another significant shift in big-time college sports, writes Sportico’s Eben-Novy Williams: the involvement of private equity and private credit funds. Schools such as Florida State have already been known to be exploring PE, but the uncertainty around a House settlement is one of the main things that has been standing in the way of a deal being reached.
Finally, we’ve got the numbers on how much Coach K earned in compensation at Duke in the year following his 2022 retirement. Spoiler alert: It’s a lot.
Here’s other (non-monetary) things you might’ve missed:
–A report publicly released by the U.S. Government Accountability Office confirmed an open secret: Federal Title IX gender-equity laws related to college athletics “are systematically violated and essentially unenforced,” writes Libit.
–Tom McMillen, the former Maryland basketball star and congressman, will step down at the end of the summer from his role as CEO of LEAD1 Association after nine years.
–Last week, a North Carolina judge granted a temporary restraining order barring UNC Chapel Hill trustees from holding closed sessions to discuss the Tar Heels’ “financials, budgeting, deficit, or ongoing or future conference alignment and related strategic planning.”
–ESPN’s docuseries on the college seasons of Caitlin Clark, Kamilla Cardoso and Kiki Rice has been released.
Elsewhere in Sportico:
–The NFL’s schedule release is the Super Bowl of ticket sales
–The brewing battle for the WNBA’s soul
–NASCAR is starting an in-season tournament
–Fanatics has sued new NFL receiver Marvin Harrison Jr.