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The Big 10 Conference is a money-making machine. The B1G is home to some of the biggest names in College Football including Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan, and Michigan State. These aren’t just football schools either, they bring in huuuuuuuge money from their other sports (primarily basketball).
Cleveland.com sifted through the 2016-2017 financial reports that each of the Big10 schools filed with the NCAA which shed some light on how much revenue each of these universities brought in. Unsurprisingly, THE Ohio State comes in at #1 with just over $185 million in revenue and the University of Michigan is just behind them with only $200,000 less. Something I was surprised by is seeing Iowa at #5 on the list ahead of #6 Michigan State. I would’ve expected to see MSU higher.
Here are the numbers from Cleveland.com where they’ve got detailed breakdowns of how this money is earned and where the money is getting spent:
No. 13 Purdue – $84.8 million
— Total revenue: $84,841,133No. 12 Maryland – $94.9 million
— Total revenue: $94,881,357No. 11 – Rutgers – $96.9 million
— Total revenue: $96,883,027No. 10 Illinois – $97.4 million
— Total revenue: $97,447,731No. 9 Indiana – $106.1 million
— Total revenue: $106,139,192No. 8 Minnesota – $116.4 million
— Total revenue: $116,376,862No. 7 Nebraska – $120.2 million
— Total revenue: $120,205,090No. 6 Michigan State – $126 million
— Total revenue: $126,021,377No. 5 Iowa – $130.7 million
— Total revenue: $130,681,467No. 4 Wisconsin – $143.4 million
— Total revenue: $143,420,668No. 3 Penn State – $144 million
— Total revenue: $144,017,055No. 2 Michigan – $185.2 million
— Total revenue: $185,173,184No. 1 Ohio State – $185.4 million
— Total revenue: $185,409,602
Am I wrong for thinking that Illinois should be 13 of 13 here? I’ve never met an Illinois fan outside of my dad and his side of the family. Illinois is almost never relevant in College Football and/or Basketball. But they’re bringing in more $$$$ than Rutgers and Maryland who each have diehard fanbases. Who knows, maybe the optics of this one are off for me.
If you’re curious how this money gets spent and where the revenue comes from then CLICK HERE to visit Cleveland.com for detailed analysis.