Revenues in college athletics, especially those related to football, have been skyrocketing for just about every program in the Power Five in recent years. Texas takes in $15 million from the Longhorn Network alone while Big Ten schools are now receiving upwards of $51 million each season.
That lucrative gravy train has not, however, been making a stop for those outside the major conferences around the country.
One of the groups hit the hardest in recent memory has been Conference USA. After a few rounds of realignment and a handful of expiring media deals, the league went from a reported $1.1 million per school to a measly $200,000. That sharp decline has certainly held back schools and caused quite a bit of changes from the league as they went about renegotiating their multimedia deals. Because of this new landscape, C-USA is streaming more games than ever on Twitter and other social media outlets and just re-upped a new network deal for many of their best games.
As a result, revenues are starting to climb back up. Per a lengthy look at North Texas athletics, the Denton Record-Chronicle notes that the payouts for the league’s schools have nearly doubled in the most recent fiscal year -- even if they still lag considerably behind their Power Five peers:
Still not a lot of dough all things considered, but doubling your money is doubling your money.
