....I really don't assume anyone was surprised by this.
Updated: June 20, 2011, 5:32 PM ET
Four BCS commissioners made $1M
Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- Four of college football's six powerhouse conferences paid their top executives $1 million or more, an Associated Press analysis of tax records shows, far eclipsing the compensation of most university presidents.
A review of 2009 IRS returns, the most recent available, shows that Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany was the highest paid, receiving total compensation valued at $1.6 million, followed by Atlantic Coast Conference commissioner John Swofford ($1.1 million), Southeastern Conference commissioner Mike Slive ($1 million) and Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe ($997,000). The other two commissioners each started in July 2009, so their compensation figures are only for the last six months of the year: PAC-10's Larry Scott ($735,000), and Big East's John Marinatto ($366,000).
Those figures include base salary and benefits such as health insurance, as well as other forms of pay such as retirement and deferred compensation. On an annual or prorated basis, only Marinatto made less than the median pay of presidents of the nation's large research universities, which was $760,774 in 2008, according to a Chronicle of Higher Education survey published last fall.
The new data about commissioner salaries comes at a time when, driven by a series of controversies at major programs, there's a growing chorus about the problems of enforcing amateurism in college football, saying it may be time to rethink the system as everyone but the athletes are making big money.
Four of six BCS conferences paid commissioners $1M or more - ESPN
Updated: June 20, 2011, 5:32 PM ET
Four BCS commissioners made $1M
Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- Four of college football's six powerhouse conferences paid their top executives $1 million or more, an Associated Press analysis of tax records shows, far eclipsing the compensation of most university presidents.
A review of 2009 IRS returns, the most recent available, shows that Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany was the highest paid, receiving total compensation valued at $1.6 million, followed by Atlantic Coast Conference commissioner John Swofford ($1.1 million), Southeastern Conference commissioner Mike Slive ($1 million) and Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe ($997,000). The other two commissioners each started in July 2009, so their compensation figures are only for the last six months of the year: PAC-10's Larry Scott ($735,000), and Big East's John Marinatto ($366,000).
Those figures include base salary and benefits such as health insurance, as well as other forms of pay such as retirement and deferred compensation. On an annual or prorated basis, only Marinatto made less than the median pay of presidents of the nation's large research universities, which was $760,774 in 2008, according to a Chronicle of Higher Education survey published last fall.
The new data about commissioner salaries comes at a time when, driven by a series of controversies at major programs, there's a growing chorus about the problems of enforcing amateurism in college football, saying it may be time to rethink the system as everyone but the athletes are making big money.
Four of six BCS conferences paid commissioners $1M or more - ESPN
