Pac-12 Revenue Up, but Money Distributed to Cal Down

The Pac-12 released its financial report for the 2022-23 fiscal year, and it adds up to less money for its 12 members

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The Pac-12 released its financial numbers for the 2022-23 fiscal year on Thursday, and while revenue reached a record high, the distribution to the 12 members decreased from the previous year.

Bottom line: The Pac-12 had a total revenue of $603.8 million, and its distribution to each Pac-12 school is $33.6 million. 

The revenue represents a 4% increase over the previous year’s revenue, which is based primarily on TV media-rights income, but the distribution amount to each member school decreased by $3.4 million, or 9.1%, from the $35 million take in 2021-22. This is according to the calculations presented by Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury-News.

The conference attributed the decline in distributions to “lower revenue for Pac-12 Networks related to affiliate fees,” Wilner wrote in his report.

What Cal fans will notice is that other major conferences experienced an increase in the distributions to each school.  Big Ten schools reportedly received $60.5 million last year, and the Southeastern Conference schools received $51.3 million apiece.  The Atlantic Coast Conference, which will be Cal’s conference beginning in the 2024-25 academic year, had distributions of $44.8 million per school.

Also troubling to Cal administrators is that Cal will received only a 30% share of revenue distribution in its first seven years of its membership in the ACC. 

That will be partly offset by the $10 million UCLA will pay Cal each of the next three years.

In the near future is the probability that schools will be asked to pay athletes up to $20 million per year as the result of an expected settlement.  That essentially will turn college athletes into professional athletes – or at least those athletes in revenue sports.

This financial burden will fall on the lap of incoming Cal chancellor Richard Lyons, who takes over from Carol Christ on July 1.

It would be worth your time to examine the revenue and expenses listed in the Pac-12 statement, and read the Wilner report, which explains what it all means.

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