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Report: Pac-12 brings in more revenue than SEC, Big Ten

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The Pac-12 is the richest conference in the country.

It’s weird to think about that, isn’t it?

I mean, the Big Ten is the league that is gobbling up the likes of Rutgers and Maryland strictly for their monetary value while the SEC reigns supreme when it comes to football and passionate fan bases.

But according to a report from USA Today, the Pac-12 was the conference that reported the most revenue during the fiscal year that ended on June 30th, 2013. The Pac-12 reported $334 million in revenue, while the Big Ten $318.4 million and the SEC generated $314.5 million.

That was the first year of their 12-year, $3 billion media rights deal, which is what was responsible for the jump. During the 2011-2012 fiscal year, the conference reported $175.9 million. In 2010-2011, their revenue was $111.8 million.

You can see why it’s so important for schools outside of the Power Five conferences to try and find a way into a Power Five conference. That’s an unbelievable amount of money, which also makes you wonder why it’s so hard to find a way to pay the athletes that are responsible for generating that revenue. The Pac-12 made $158.1 million more in 2012-2013 than it did the year before. I’m sure every penny of that was already earmarked for ... something?

I guess PAC-12 commissioner Larry Scott is earning that $3.3 million salary.