Video: SEC To Distribute $289.4 Million; $20.7 Million To Each School

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STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI)-The SEC has announced their record breaking shared revenue amount and a lot of big schools across the southeast will benefit.

Scott Stricklin told WCBI, “We are going to be defined by the great experience we create and our ability to compete for championships on a consistent basis.”

The SEC will distribute a record $289.4 million dollars this year. Each of its 14 schools gets $20.7 million dollars. Despite conference expansion, everybody’s piece of the pie is getting bigger. Last year the SEC distributed $20.1 million dollars to its 12 member schools.

“It’s a pretty important part of our revenue and our resources to provide a great experience for our fans in our student athletes and our coaches and staff you know we are very fortunate to be in the SEC. You know working together 14 schools were able to generate a lot of revenue for all of us and it helps all schools. But obviously at Mississippi State where we put that money to good use,” Stricklin says.

As one of the smaller schools in the SEC, Mississippi State will use this fund to enhance the schools athletic potential within the schools upcoming fiscal year.

“We kind of put it all in one pot and we make sure it gets distributed evenly. We also have other sources of revenue from ticket sales and donations and other things such as sponsorships. We try to make sure we take care of all different 16 sports we have in a way that allows them to be successful,” says Stricklin.

Not included in the $289.4 million was $14.1 million retained by SEC schools participating in bowls and $980,000 divided among the 14 schools by the NCAA for academic enhancement. As important as these funds are to other schools, Mississippi State’s ongoing Football Stadium expansion will also benefit from the added funds.

Stricklin says,  “We took down the old restrooms and concessions and we’re building new ones and it’ll be ready this fall so it’ll be a little bit of a taste for our fans and then in 2014 will have the whole thing done.”

The launch of the SEC Network is expected to bring an additional 17 million annually per school on average through the life of the 20-year contract with ESPN.