Money is top of mind these days in college sports, due to schools paying their players directly, the availability of third-party NIL deals and rosters appearing to cost more season after season.
Given the focus on financial considerations, I wanted to pass along two tidbits of information that arrived on Friday.
One is that the Atlantic Coast Conference, in fiscal year 2025, generated record revenue of $826.5 million, according to a report from USA Today. Secondly, Syracuse football head coach Fran Brown earned slightly more than $3.1 million in total compensation from SU in his first season leading the Orange (2024), per a story from Syracuse.com.
As power conferences go, unsurprisingly, the Big Ten and the SEC ruled the day in fiscal year 2025, generating revenue of $1.47 billion and $1.11 billion, respectively. The ACC came in third, at $826.5 million, while the Big 12 Conference placed fourth, with its own record of $610.9 million.
These days, the ACC is generally thought to be in an ongoing battle with the Big 12 for the No. 3 position. The ACC's record revenue was buoyed by "$588.8 million in television money from ESPN and the expanded reach of the ACC Network," according to USA Today. The Big 12, meanwhile, added four new member institutions to help boost its total revenue for fiscal year 2025.
The USA Today article didn't mention how much Syracuse received from the ACC in fiscal year 2025. The minimum distribution to an ACC school was $42.8 million (not including Notre Dame or new members California, Stanford and SMU).
In the ACC, Clemson received the highest distribution from that conference, at $55.1 million. The ACC had a total revenue jump of $115.1 million in fiscal year 2025 when compared to the prior year. The trio of new additions from the West Coast helped fuel that growth. Fiscal year 2025 "was the ACC’s sixth straight year of record revenue," per USA Today.
Take a gander at the compensation of Syracuse Orange sports coaches.
Syracuse.com's article stated that Brown's 2024 compensation was the highest of any Syracuse University employee. That's not a surprise, as college football head coaches often have this designation at colleges and universities.
Salary information for Brown and other Syracuse head coaches "was included in financial disclosures that the school is required to make to the federal government in conjunction with its non-profit status," per Syracuse.com.
In 2024, among SU employees, then-head coach Adrian Autry of Syracuse men's basketball placed second, with total compensation of $2.2 million. This past March, Autry and his staff were let go, with another former Orange great, Gerry McNamara, being hired as the program's next head coach.
Felisha Legette-Jack, the head coach of Syracuse women's basketball, earned just under $1 million in 2024, at $990,000 in total compensation.
Elijah Robinson made just under $1.6 million in compensation in 2024. He had been the defensive coordinator for Syracuse football, but in December of last year, he rejoined Southeast Conference school Texas A&M as its co-defensive coordinator and defensive line coach.
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