March Madness Conference Payouts

[Matt1010]

Found this to be a super interesting breakdown that really demonstrates the importance of the BE getting more teams in the tournament. Using these numbers for last year we likely made each Big East program a little over a million dollars with our championship run.

 

[shizzle787]

This highlights why the league needs to expand by at least one- preferably Gonzaga.

 

[upstater]

Consider this: a team that wins in the first 4, like Colo. St., earns 2 units while the champ will earn 5. The balance is wacky. Also MWC will earn 10 units even if SDSt. loses to UConn. But if UConn goes all the way, the BE might only get 11 if Creighton & Marquette lose in the S16.

MWC record could be: 4-6 = 10 units
BE record: 10-2 = 11 units

It's really bizarre to see the discrepancy in awards.

Units should be weighted by the level of advancement in the tournament.

 

[August_West]

This highlights why the league needs to expand by at least one- preferably Gonzaga.

Gonzaga going to B12 with Duke.

 

[Tenspro2002]

How much is a "unit" worth? How much does it compare to the BE Committee member's or Commissioner's salary?

Seems like poor lobbying and representation of the conference could be costly.

 

[aburks41]

I always thought units were only earned if you won the game. The more ya know

 

[Palatine]

A unit is worth a little over 2 million dollars.

It is paid by the number of games you play.

The BE has played in six games = $12 million dollars.

In the next round the BE will add $6 million dollars.

Winning the championship game gets you no extra money. Both teams in the finals get $2 million for the game.

 

[Kolumbo]

It's a bad system when conferences are compensated in large part by the selection decisions of a few people on a committee. MWC gets 6 bids and not one bubble team from the Big East is selected. Football conferences get multiple bubble bids. The Big East is a conference which relies solely on basketball money. So the Big East was really bent over the barrel.

 

[Chin Diesel]

It's a bad system when conferences are compensated in large part by the selection decisions of a few people on a committee. MWC gets 6 bids and not one bubble team from the Big East is selected. Football conferences get multiple bubble bids. The Big East is a conference which relies solely on basketball money. So the Big East was really bent over the barrel.

Correct. The snub from the selection committee of the BE teams and the inclusion of other conference bubble teams has direct financial implications.

 

[Hurleyman216]

I agree that units should be heavily weighted based on the round and I also think if you make it to the final 4, your school should be able to keep any units earned after that. Does the national champion get more units than the runner up? That also isn’t clear to me. It’s shocking to me that the overall champion doesn’t get like a $25-50M payout with all the $$ the tournament brings in.

 

[upstater]

How much is a "unit" worth? How much does it compare to the BE Committee member's or Commissioner's salary?

Seems like poor lobbying and representation of the conference could be costly.

$2m each unit, and if the football schools grab hold of the tourney away from the NCAA, that per unit price should skyrocket by a factor of 3, at the very least. Each unit will be worth between $6-$9m.

 

[Kolumbo]

the more I think about it, why the H isn't Dave Benedict on the committee to debate with the football schools. "what, you want Colorado and Virginia? Over St. John's? Guess what. Not on my watch <wink wink>"

That's a great video explaining how units work. I always thought winners received more $ per game in the tourney. Go figure. The NCAA gets to keep a nice nest egg to be paid over 6 years. The Big East is in 5th place for total Units earned over the past 6 years. Not bad for only having 11 programs.

Gonzaga earns more units than any other program, including Duke, because of its special agreement in the WCC.