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AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, site of the 2015 College Football Playoff championship game. (AP Photo/Roger Steinman)
(Roger Steinman )
The SEC will bring in an estimated $87.5 million from its participation in the College Football Playoff and the accompanying bowls filled by the playoff's selection committee.
The conference is the only one to place three teams in the playoff-affiliated bowls, with Alabama in the playoff, Mississippi State going to the Orange Bowl and Ole Miss ticketed for the Peach.
Each Power 5 conference gets a base payment of $50 million from the CFP, with playoff teams Alabama, Oregon, Florida State and Ohio State bringing in an extra $6 million and teams in the three so-called "access bowls" -- the Peach, Cotton and Fiesta -- bringing in an extra $4 million apiece.
As a "contract bowl" -- or one that carries a separate contract with conferences when it isn't a playoff semifinal, the Orange Bowl is treated separately, with a payout of $27.5 million. The Sugar and Rose Bowl will operate similarly when they are not utilized as semifinals, as the Sugar is contracted with the SEC and Big 12, the Rose with the Big Ten and Pac-12 and the Orange with the ACC.
The Orange Bowl's other slot goes to the highest ranked team from the SEC, Big Ten or Notre Dame that isn't in the playoff -- which, this year, is Mississippi State.
"The two conferences that have agreements with them would be paid directly by contract by ESPN and the bowl," SEC Executive Associate Commissioner Mark Womack said of the contract bowls. "That's why it's more. That payment is not really part of the CFP payment."
Add the $50 million base to the $6 million for Alabama, the $4 million for Ole Miss and the $27.5 million for Mississippi State and you get $87.5 million. That money goes to the conference, which splits it among its 14 members.
According to businessofcollegesports.com, the SEC's model of revenue distribution is as follows:
For bowl games with receipts between $4 million and $6 million, like the Peach, the school keeps $1.475 million, plus a travel allowance. For bowl games with receipts of $6 million or more, like the Sugar and Orange, the school keeps $2 million, plus the travel allowance. If an SEC team makes it to the championship game, it receives another $2.1 million, plus travel allowance.
The rest of the revenue from the CFP bowls is divided evenly between the 14 schools and the conference office.
Projected payouts for the other Power 5 conferences:
ACC -- $83.5 million
Pac-12 -- $60 million
Big Ten -- $60 million
Big 12 -- $58 million
After the Citrus Bowl chose SEC East champ Missouri, SEC took a greater role in placing the rest of its bowl-eligible teams in the next tier of bowls, known as the Pool of 6 -- the Outback, Belk, Music City, Taxslayer, Liberty and Texas. The final two selections then went to the Independence and Birmingham Bowls.
Womack said the process for filling the Pool of 6, which allowed for both the bowls and the schools to lobby the conference office for their preferences, went smoothly for a first run.
"We knew going in, you're not going to make everybody happy, but I think for the first year, it went well," he said. "We think there are some quality matchups out there. ... A lot of those things that we were looking to try and accomplish, I think we did. We'll certainly revisit and evaluate, see how we can improve the process, but I think all in all we were pleased with how it turned out."
Payouts for the SEC's other bowl games, via collegefootballpoll.com, statisticbrain.com and other sources:
Citrus (Missouri vs. Minnesota): $4.25 million
Outback (Auburn vs. Wisconsin): $3.5 million
Texas (Arkansas vs. Texas): $3 million
Music City (LSU vs. Notre Dame): $2.75 million
Taxslayer (Tennessee vs. Iowa): $2.75 million
Liberty (Texas A&M vs. West Virginia): $2.4 million
Belk (Georgia vs. Louisville): $1.7 million
Independence (South Carolina vs. Miami): $1.2 million
Birmingham (Florida vs. East Carolina): $1.1 million