Knights get $7.4M from conference
UCF’s recent athletic success continued to pay off, with the school earning a $7.47 million payout from the American Athletic Conference.
The conference reported $73.2 million in total revenue for the 2018-19 fiscal year, according to the most recent tax documents available and obtained by the Orlando Sentinel. It was the second consecutive year the Knights received a payout of more than $7 million from the league.
The numbers show a slight decrease — nearly 6% — from the previous fiscal year, during which the AAC reported $77.79 million in total revenue. Despite the decline, the conference reported nearly $3 million of revenue after posting $70.235 million in expenses.
According to the records, the conference earned $40.1 million from postseason tournaments, including revenue generated from the shares in the 2019 NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments as well as bowl game payouts along with the league’s share from the College Football Playoff.
Seven teams qualified for bowl games during the 2018-19 season, including UCF, which earned a spot in a New Year’s Six Access Bowl for the second consecutive year as the top-ranked team from the Group of Five conferences. The Knights lost 40-32 to LSU in the Fiesta Bowl.
The league earned $6.090 million in
NCAA sponsorships and grants and $3.038 million in revenue off conference championships. The AAC also reported $22.726 million in revenue from television and radio rights through its deals with ESPN and CBS Sports.
UCF led the way in payouts. The Knights were followed by Cincinnati ($6.04 million), USF ($5.615 million), Memphis ($4.685 million), Temple ($4.45 million), Houston ($4.354 million), Tulane ($3.608 million), East Carolina ($3.338 million), SMU ($3.297 million), Tulsa ($3.290 million), Navy ($1.978 million) and UConn ($1.08 million).
Commissioner Mike Aresco made $1.929 million in compensation during the 2018-19 fiscal year, up slightly from $1.883 million the previous year.
The league reached a new 12-year media rights deal with ESPN in March 2019 that is reportedly worth $1 billion. The deal extends the current agreement, which expires at the end of June.