Even as the Big 12 projects record total revenue, longtime members are facing shrinking or flat distributions as the conference’s TV gains get divided across more teams. The math gets even tighter once the league’s fixed TV deals run through 2031 and new membe
For years, the Big 12 has been selling survival: expand to keep pace after Texas and Oklahoma left for the SEC. But in the numbers now circulating through tax returns and school revenue projections. the story turns sharper—bigger league revenue doesn’t automatically mean bigger paychecks for the schools that were already there.
The league’s total net distributable revenue is projected to reach a high for fiscal 2026, up from fiscal 2025. Yet the distribution slices that matter to longtime incumbents are getting thinner as the conference’s roster has grown. and as the league’s TV contract revenue has not kept pace with the increasing number of mouths sharing it.
The Big 12’s television deal does not expire until 2031, leaving limited room for the kind of jump in broadcast payouts other conferences have used to widen their financial gap.
In a pre-Big 12 Tournament address, Commissioner Brett Yormark returned to one of the league’s central themes: closing the distance between what the Big 12 collects and what its rivals can distribute.
“[W]e’re doing everything we can,” Yormark said May 29. “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.”
The key tension running through the figures is arithmetic. The league says fiscal 2026 net distributable revenue will be the most in Big 12 history, while the conference distributes that pool across 16 schools instead of 10 in 2022 and 14 equivalent shares in 2025.
That dilution matters most because several longtime members are already projecting distribution totals that trend lower over time.
Big 12 payouts slide for longtime schools, even with rising totals
The money comes primarily from league television rights fees, postseason football revenue, and other shared sources. For schools, it is a significant piece of the athletics budget and is used to help cover rising obligations—such as revenue-sharing with players and coaches’ pay.
Iowa State
In fiscal 2022, the Cyclones received $44 million from the Big 12. In fiscal 2025, that number fell to $41.2 million. For fiscal 2026. ending June 30. the state board of regents projected conference and NCAA revenue of $35.6 million. with expectations that the total would creep closer to $40 million for all Big 12 schools. The league projects $710 million in revenue for fiscal 2026, $100 million more than in fiscal 2025.
Oklahoma State
In fiscal 2022, the Cowboys received $44.9 million from the Big 12. In fiscal 2025, it dropped to $38 million. For fiscal 2026, the school projected a Big 12 distribution of about $36 million.
Texas Tech
In fiscal 2022, the Red Raiders received $43.5 million. In fiscal 2025, the figure fell to $39.7 million. For fiscal 2026, Texas Tech said Feb. 26 that it budgeted for a Big 12 distribution of $36.5 million. The school’s final number is expected to be higher after participating in the College Football Playoff last season.
Arizona State
The Sun Devils joined the Big 12 in fiscal 2025, starting in the summer of 2024. They received a full distribution share of $43 million in that year. By May 27, Arizona State told the outlet they were forecasting about $36 million in fiscal 2026.
More mouths to feed as the conference changes shape
The fiscal 2026 math explains why the revenue headline can feel disconnected from individual school budgets. The league projects $710 million in revenue for fiscal 2026 and nearly $55 million in expenses, including staff pay, according to tax returns. That leaves about $655 million to split among 16 schools—about $40 million each.
The comparison point embedded in the projections is how much bigger full-share members can be in the Big Ten and SEC. In 2025, full-share members in those conferences were in the $70-90 million range.
Former Fox Sports Networks President Bob Thompson described the underlying constraint in terms of funding and dilution: in fiscal 2025. the money was split 14 ways (accounting for four half-shares). and in 2026 it will be split 16 ways. Without significant year-over-year increases to rights fees. the two new full shares would have to be funded through dilution to annual payouts.
This is not the same arrangement that applied to the Big 12’s 2024 additions.
In 2024, the league added Colorado, Arizona, Arizona State and Utah—schools that came from the Pac-12. Those four schools were granted full revenue shares in their first year of Big 12 membership in fiscal 2025. which began in July 2024. The difference stemmed from a decision made alongside ESPN. which helped foot the full-share bill for the four former Pac-12 teams. unlike the approach for BYU. UCF. Houston and Cincinnati.
TV revenue: up, but only 4% with the 2023 wave
The Big 12’s tax returns show television contract revenue increased only about 4% in fiscal 2024 after adding BYU, UCF, Houston and Cincinnati.
The league’s reported television contract revenue includes:
– FY 2023: $283.6 million with 10 members, including Texas and Oklahoma. – FY 2024: $294.7 million, up only 4% from 2023, with 14 members including Texas, Oklahoma, plus UCF, BYU, Houston and Cincinnati. – FY 2025: $336.6 million with 16 members including Colorado. Arizona. Arizona State and Utah. and the first year without Texas and Oklahoma and their prior $40-million shares.
For the Big 12’s newest wave from outside the Power 5, BYU, UCF, Houston and Cincinnati, the move can look like a different deal entirely.
BYU, UCF, Houston and Cincinnati: the payout jump was real
Those four schools joined the Big 12 in 2023 to gain more money and exposure in a Power Four league. Their financial trajectory has been materially different from the pattern described for Iowa State, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and Arizona State.
UCF
UCF received $9.5 million in fiscal 2023 from its old league, the American Athletic Conference. After moving to the Big 12 in fiscal 2024. UCF received a half share of $20.8 million. followed by a $20 million half share in fiscal 2025. UCF now projects a full Big 12 share of $36.8 million in fiscal 2026.
BYU, Cincinnati and Houston
The financial shift is described as similar for BYU, Cincinnati and Houston. Each had received $8.8 million in fiscal 2023 from the AAC, its previous league. Houston athletic director Eddie Nunez said last September that the Big 12 move made budget issues easier.
“We have this (Big 12) revenue coming in that we have not been living off (previously),” Nunez said.
How the added teams strain the rest
The question for incumbent members is how long the benefits for newcomers last once revenue is split across a larger group.
The Big 12’s survival tradeoff is laid out in the league’s own expansion decisions. The conference added BYU, Houston, UCF and Cincinnati in 2021 under then-commissioner Bill Bowlsby after Oklahoma and Texas left. Kansas State President Richard Linton described that moment as uncertainty.
“I started in this job five years ago, and my first phone call was when we had a couple of teams that were leaving the league,” Linton said May 29. “And nobody knew what the future was.”
He said the league could not have anticipated the Pac-12 implode in the summer of 2023, which later made Utah and other Pac-12 schools willing to join the Big 12 after lacking incentive previously.
But after the reshuffling, the impact on school distributions comes down to the recurring logic of conference realignment: new members are expected to expand the revenue pie enough to cover additional conference obligations, including revenue sharing.
In the Big 12, that expansion in broadcast value described through the television contract revenue figures didn’t arrive at a level that lifts every incumbent’s share proportionally.
Fixed TV deals keep pressure on new revenue experiments
The league’s TV deals with ESPN and Fox run until 2031. That means the basic broadcast stream is largely locked in place for years, leaving limited leverage for the league to rapidly expand payouts.
It is also why Yormark emphasized creating new value while working with fixed revenue.
He said net distributions exceeded forecasts for fiscal 2026 during remarks May 29, but declined to specify how much.
“The net distributions, we’re not discussing right now,” Yormark said May 29.
Yormark also highlighted a private capital deal that offers each member an option to take a $30 million line of credit as a “safety net.” No Big 12 school has publicly accepted the option yet.
How rivals widened the gap
The pressure on the Big 12 is heightened by how quickly other conferences’ revenues have climbed.
The reporting draws a direct comparison:
– The Big Ten’s revenues increased by $540 million from fiscal 2024 to fiscal 2025 after adding four teams from the Pac-12—USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington.
– The Big Ten’s television partner, Fox, was willing to pay more to add Oregon and Washington even after adding USC and UCLA.
Then-Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith said in 2023: “Fox brought new money to the table for Oregon and for Washington.”
A parallel comparison is made to the ACC’s distribution experience after it added Stanford, California and SMU in fiscal 2025. The ACC’s television revenue jumped from $487 million in fiscal 2024 to $588.8 million in fiscal 2025. supporting third-place total revenues in 2025 at $826.5 million. with full distribution shares ranging from $43-55 million.
The Big 12, in contrast, does not have a television network like the Big Ten, SEC and ACC. Its television contract revenue streams are described as largely fixed through 2031.
Where things stand now
For fiscal 2026, the league expects record net distributable revenue—yet longtime members are staring at distributions that project flat or lower payouts as the number of shares increases from 14 equivalent shares in 2025 to 16 in 2026.
That gap is likely to feel most sharply in the budgeting cycle: revenue-sharing obligations don’t wait for conference arithmetic to catch up. For incumbents. the line from tax returns to projected distribution totals suggests the Big 12’s survival strategy preserved the league’s presence—but also reshaped the economics in a way that doesn’t benefit every school equally.
At the same time. the league’s newcomers are moving toward full shares in fiscal 2026 after receiving half-shares for two years following their 2023 entry. The Big 12’s financial picture. in other words. is split down the middle between schools climbing into fuller distributions and schools inheriting the dilution that comes with getting there.
Big 12 revenue distribution payouts Brett Yormark SCORE Act ESPN Fox TV deal 2031 college sports realignment Iowa State distributions Oklahoma State distributions Texas Tech Big 12 revenue Arizona State Big 12 forecast UCF half share full share 2026 BYU Big 12 distribution 2026 Houston Big 12 distributions Cincinnati Big 12 distribution 2026
So the TV money went up but the schools got less? Makes no sense.
I guess that’s what happens when they add more teams. Everyone wants the cake but nobody wants to share. Also why does it say “tax returns” like that’s normal for sports?
Wait, I thought Big 12 revenue increases meant everybody’s payouts go up. But “incumbents shrink”?? So Texas and Oklahoma leaving somehow makes it worse for the rest? Like it’s a punishment thing.
This is basically just more money on paper and less cash in real life. They keep “projecting” highs and then saying distributions to longtime members are flat… feels like they’re laundering the hype. If the TV deal doesn’t expire until 2031, why not just renegotiate now? Or am I reading it wrong and the new teams are stealing it all.