Big 12 revenue-sharing plan staying same

By B.G. Brooks, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published May 22, 2008 at 9:51 p.m.

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Anticipating the distribution of a record $113.5 million to its membership, the Big 12 Conference hierarchy addressed the league's revenue-sharing plan Thursday during its spring meetings in Colorado Springs and decided maintaining the status quo is its best option.

Harvey Perlman, chairman of the Big 12 board of directors, said the board "agreed to continue the current distribution model," which rewards member schools with larger shares for their television appearances and/or participation in and advancement in the NCAA basketball tournament.

Perlman, Nebraska's chancellor, called the conversation "congenial," adding, "Keep in mind an awful lot of the revenue is distributed on an equal basis. We spent time discussing how we can increase overall revenue as opposed to how we distribute it."

Before the spring meetings began, first-year commissioner Dan Beebe said, "There probably are other conferences that distribute the revenue more equally."

But Thursday, Beebe said, "There was a careful consideration and (the board) explored what I wanted them to explore. I wanted (the board) to discuss the issue so we can move on to the many other issues that are in front of the conference."

The session ends today with another board of directors meeting.

Going up

Big 12 revenue distributed to member schools since the conference was formed:

Year Revenue (millions)

1997 54.7

1998 55.3

1999 62.7

2000 67.0

2001 76.2

2002 83.3

2003 89.5

2004 101.8