Canceled basketball tournaments mean Big 12 payouts declined slightly from prior year
Schools in the Big 12 took a hit in revenue distribution this year.
The league will deliver an average of $37.7 million to each school. That’s about $1.1 million less than the conference paid out to member schools last season.
The 2019-20 school year for sports ended in mid-March because of the COVID-19 pandemic. That timing played a factor in the revenue decline. The Big 12 men’s basketball tournament was halted after the first day of games.
The league lost an estimated $6.6 million when the men’s and women’s tournaments, both in Kansas City, were canceled. The women’s tournament was set to start a day after the men’s began.
Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby made the announcement at the conclusion of the Big 12 spring meeting Friday. Last week, the conference announced that football players could begin returning to campuses to begin voluntary workouts.
Bowlsby said he was “bullish” on the idea that the college football season would begin as scheduled around Labor Day.
The conference also on Friday issued a statement, signed by its 10 member institutions’ presidents and chancellors, addressing the unrest in Minneapolis in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd by a police officer.
“As a conference representing thousands of students, faculty and staff from all walks of life, we are committed to fostering a culture of inclusivity and respect in our campus communities,” the statement read. “Acts of racism and violence, no matter their origin or target, contradict this core commitment we share within the Big 12 Conference. Recent incidents of racial violence underscore the need for us and for all Americans to join together in addressing matters of racism and injustice in a united, meaningful way.”
This story was originally published May 29, 2020 at 4:55 PM with the headline "Canceled basketball tournaments mean Big 12 payouts declined slightly from prior year."