Iowa State receives more conference revenue than every SEC school

It doesn’t always pay off to be in a huge super conference like the SEC. At least this year, anyway.

Revenue distribution figures trickled out of the Big 12 conference meetings this week, showing that eight of the 10 schools in the conference received $23 million. That, of course, includes Iowa State, while newcomers TCU and West Virginia get just $14 million because they’ve only been in the league for two years.

In comparison to what the SEC received this year, because the amount distributed has to be spread to 14 teams, every school picks up $20.9 million.

But wait, there’s more (via Kansas City Star).

"“Our distribution revenue in the coming years will climb to $40 million per school,” Bowlsby said at the conclusion of Big 12 meetings Friday in Irving, Tex."

Because the TV contract payout will continue to increase every year, that amount that Iowa State receives will reach around the $40 million mark.

Now, SEC fans will rush to their computers and will do one of the following: that they think it’s outrageous that Iowa State receives more conference revenue than Alabama, or they’ll just retort angrily with, “WHATEVER, SEC NETWORK IS GOING TO MAKE BILLIONS.” Because the SEC just has to be better at everything in their minds.

Well, yes, even though I’m talking about just this year, the SEC Network will bring in money at a much more rapid rate — assuming it gets picked up by carriers like DirecTV and Time Warner Cable — than the Big 12’s current plan. But don’t forget, Big 12 schools also receive revenue from third-tier networks.

The Cyclones obviously won’t be able to compete with SEC Network revenue. Jamie Pollard has declined to announce how much Cyclones.tv actually rakes in, but it continues to grow especially after its agreement with local cable giant, Mediacom.

Some of the bigger networks are making millions. Kansas’ Jayhawk Network is worth $6 million, Kansas state’s KStateHD.TV is worth $3 million, and the infamous Longhorn Network, which everyone loves to pile on, is worth about $15 million without being on a major provider like DirecTV.

Plus, these third-tier networks are more fan-friendly and the school can control what’s on it, rather than selling your soul to a network that carve out a half-hour block of Iowa State programming at 2:30 in the morning.

However, I personally wouldn’t put it in doubt that the Big 12 would eventually announce their own network. Soon they’ll see what the SEC Network does, and everything about the Pac-12 Network and Big Ten Network is making a lot of money.

For only having 10 teams and being outdone in football TV ratings, reeling in over $220 million and setting a record is pretty good stuff. We’ve sure come a long way since the Dennis Dodds in the world dug an early grave for the conference.