Michigan's Jim Harbaugh answers questions from reporters on a Zoom call about playing football in 2020, COVID-19 and more, Wednesday, July 8, 2020. Detroit Free Press
The Power Five college sports conferences had more than $2.9 billion in combined revenue for their 2019 fiscal years, the conferences’ new federal tax records show.
The Big Ten reported more than $780 million in revenue, the most of any conference, and its return credits recently retired commissioner Jim Delany with nearly $10.3 million in total compensation for the 2018 calendar year.
The returns, four of which were provided this week in response to requests from USA TODAY Sports, serve as yet another reminder of the financial backdrop against which major-college sports’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the fight over athletes’ name, image and likeness rights are playing out.