The Ohio State Buckeyes and the Big Ten are the richest they've ever been

The Ohio State Buckeyes are one of the richest universities in the country every year. That's because of how much money they make from the athletic department, specifically football. The football program brings in either the most or the second-most revenue in the country every year.

Ohio State wasn't the only rich Big Ten program this past fiscal year. Everyone else made a lot of money too. In fact, the whole conference made $880 in revenue for the 2023 fiscal year. All of the teams in the Big Ten had to really enjoy getting their share of that money.

Surprisingly, one of the biggest factors for the conference making that much money was not the new TV deal that the conference signed. The new deal with NBC, CBS, and FOX really helped them get richer, just not this year. That's a major reason why the conference is adding four new teams this year.

The Big Ten overtook the SEC as the richest conference with this fiscal year haul. Football programs are going to use this revenue to help with NIL deals moving forward. Once that deal kicks in with full force this season, I expect the conference to make even more money.

As far as the Ohio State Buckeyes are concerned, they didn't need this lucrative TV deal to make a lot of money. That's just how they are positioned in the hierarchy of college sports. College football drives these decisions, and you can see why. It brings in so much money.

The Buckeyes are one of the reasons why the Big Ten makes so much money. They drive revenue, as do Michigan and Penn State. USC, Washington, and Oregon will also add a lot of value. This is why the Big Ten is one of the drivers of the future of college sports.