The SEC generated an NCAA record $1.4 billion in revenue in 2014, according to a study by Samford University’s Brock School of Business.
Alabama ($153 million) generated more money than any other program in the 14-member conference, which overall saw a revenue increase of 4.73 percent.
The SEC earned $38 million more in revenue than the Big Ten, the second-highest earning conference. The ACC ($1.2 billion) and Pac-12 ($1 billion) are growing almost twice as fast, and the former doesn’t even have its own conference TV network.
Overall, the power five conferences topped $5.8 billion in revenue, roughly the GDP of entire countries like Guinea, Monaco, Barbados and Bermuda.
The Brock School of Business reached an obvious conclusion that’s backed by the data: college football is a healthy business, especially for the power five conferences. Said the school in the report:
Within the overall sports industry, the Power Five Conferences have significantly outpaced the industry as a whole. According to the PwC Outlook for the Sports Market in North America, the North American sports market has grown at a rate of 5.1 percent during the same timeframe. The Power Five Conferences in college athletics have grown at a 45 percent faster pace than the sports industry as a whole.
In layman’s terms, the SEC generated enough revenue in 2014 to pay for 4,566 2015 Bentley Mulsanne vehicles at sticker price.
An itinerant journalist, Christopher has moved between states 11 times in seven years. Formally an injury-prone Division I 800-meter specialist, he now wanders the Rockies in search of high peaks.
