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Big 12 projects record revenue but still lags: 'No. 1 thing I think about when I wake up'
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- Big 12 projects record revenue but still lags: 'No. 1 thing I think about when I wake up'
The Big 12 Conference is projected to bring in $710 million in gross revenue in fiscal year 2026, giving the league another record year in revenue but still likely keeping it in a distant fourth place behind the other Power Four leagues .
Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark disclosed this number at Big 12 meetings in Frisco, Texas May 29 while noting that the "No. 1 thing I think about when I wake up" is how to narrow the revenue gap between his league and others.
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The $710 million estimate for fiscal 2026 is up from the $610.9 million reported by the Big 12 in its recently filed tax returns for fiscal 2025, which ended in June 2025. That ranked a distant fourth for that year behind the Big Ten ($1.47 billion), the SEC ($1.11 billion) and the ACC ($826.5 million).
Revenue also is expected to escalate for those leagues in 2026, likely keeping the Big 12 far behind them for the foreseeable future, or at least until after its TV deal with ESPN and Fox expires in 2031.
"We're doing everything we can," Yormark told reporters. "You know, there's a lot of fixed revenue. You think about the conference business. There's not as much variable revenue as you'd like, but we're taking as much advantage of the variable pieces of the business as we can. Our commercial business is thriving. Were very aggressive there, and we're just looking to innovate, find new ways to better resource our institutions. And we'll continue to push forward in that direction."
How the revenue disparity trickles down to Big 12 schools
Fiscal 2026 ends June 30 and is the first year all 16 members of the Big 12 will receive full revenue distributions from the conference, including Houston, Central Florida, BYU and Cincinnati . Those schools joined the league in fiscal 2024 but received half shares of $19-20 million in fiscal years 2024 and 2025. Other league members received full shares of $38-43 million in fiscal 2025, including new members Colorado, Arizona, Arizona State and Utah .
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Yormark declined to say Friday what the net distributions are estimated to be from that $710 million in gross revenue for 2026. But they still will be quite a ways back from the $70-90 million shares given to members of the SEC and Big Ten in fiscal 2025. Such revenue represents a significant part of each school's athletic budget and helps pay for rising costs that have led to budget problems across college sports , including the relatively new cost of $20.5 million in revenue-sharing with players.
In the case of the Big 12, the revenue gap widened after the league's two marquee football brands, Texas and Oklahoma, left for more money and joined the SEC in 2024 .
The Big 12 still has a financial 'safety net'
To help Big 12 schools keep up with the competition, the league swung a deal with private capital companies Redbird Capital and Weatherford Capital that included an option for each school to obtain a $30 million line of credit . No school has publicly accepted that offer. Yormark also said Friday he wasn't aware of any school that had. It comes with an interest rate of nearly 10%, leading schools to balk.
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"Having access to capital is always a good thing, and we look at that as a safety net for schools when and if they want to do it," Yormark said. "And they have a year to tap into it. And we all know things change in our ecosystem pretty quickly. Although they might not want it today, that might be different in six months or 12 months. So we'll wait and see."
Yorkmark said he's still bullish on his league's future and repeated something he's said before .
"In football. I think we are the deepest conference in America," Yormark said.
He also said, "There has never been a better time than right now to be part of the Big 12."
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Kansas State president Richard Linton echoed that Friday.
"The Big 12 is a force to be reckoned with," Linton said. "And our future, we feel, is very strong."
Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer . Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Big 12 projects $710 million in revenue in 2026, still far behind
