That's incorrect. There's no such thing as a 'junior member'. The Big Ten evenly splits revenue.
Rutgers is the only exception as they are being ramped up to a full share.
Nebraska on track for big payday in 2017; Maryland’s larger Big Ten payout is part advance
Though the discrepancy in dollars between Maryland and Nebraska is sure to have some Husker fans grumbling, especially given Nebraska’s longer tenure in the league, Big Ten Deputy Commissioner Brad Traviolia defended the distributions.
Nebraska, Maryland and Rutgers were all given six-year terms to transition to a full Big Ten share. Payments from the league were then set at what the schools were projected to receive from their old leagues during those years at the time of negotiations — 2010 for Nebraska and 2013 for Maryland and Rutgers.
Nebraska’s $14 million payment during 2011-12, its first in the Big Ten, was based on what it had been expected to receive from the Big 12 in that year.
Likewise, Maryland’s $24.5 million base payment for 2014-15 was based on what it was projected to receive from the ACC that year.
Rutgers was coming out of the lower-tier American Athletic Conference, the reason for its low-ball Big Ten payment. The school did not release its first-year payment figure last week, but Traviolia put it at about $10 million.
Public documents show Nebraska’s payments have gradually ramped up: to $15.4 million in year two, then $16.9 million, $18.7 million and about $22 million for the current year.
Those transition-year payments were not adjusted even though, as it turned out, Big 12 members have actually received larger payments than were projected back in 2010.
The Big 12 negotiated a new TV deal after Nebraska’s departure that was somewhat more lucrative than had been expected. Additionally, Big 12 payments have grown higher simply because the league has fewer schools sharing the dollars. League tax filings show only eight Big 12 schools in recent years received full shares, with West Virginia and TCU both receiving lesser payments as new league members.
Traviolia said terms for entering schools do not call for adjusting payments even if actual payouts in their old leagues turn out to be different.
“It was based on what the Big 12 was projected to pay at the time we negotiated,” Traviolia said of Nebraska’s payments.
The Big Ten did adjust Nebraska’s payout over the last two years to take into account the new College Football Playoff, the main reason payments to Nebraska have spiked more than $5 million over those years. Nebraska would have received that bump as either a member of the Big 12 or Big Ten, Traviolia said.
Far bigger rewards appear ahead for Nebraska beginning in July 2017, when the school becomes a fully vested member of the league. Not only will the school be eligible for a full share, the league will also be entering a new network television contract that year. Annual payments to league schools are expected to top $40 million, and some have suggested they could reach $50 million.
