ROSEMONT, Ill. — The Big Ten joined the Southeastern Conference in crossing the $1 billion mark in total revenue for the 2024-25 fiscal year, marking a significant uptick in payouts to its member schools.

The league reported roughly $1.47 billion in total revenue in its federal tax filing for the term running from July 2024 to June 2025, which covered the first year of westward expansion that brought in UCLA, USC, Washington and Oregon from the Pac-12. That was up from the previous total of roughly $928.1 million in 2023-24, an increase of roughly 58%.

And for schools, that meant a healthy increase in payouts from the league office, driven largely by the Big Ten’s lucrative TV deal with Fox, CBS and NBC.

The league distributed an average of nearly $79.9 million to schools that received a full share, up from roughly $63.1 million for 2023-24. Those payouts were highlighted by College Football Playoff champion Ohio State receiving roughly $91.6 million followed by fellow CFP teams Penn State (roughly $88.9 million) and Indiana ($81.0 million).

Oregon and Washington received reduced shares as part of their deal that secured a spot in the Big Ten to follow USC and UCLA. Oregon received $48.4 million while Washington received $46.7 million.

The Big Ten’s tax filing became public three months after the SEC, which reported roughly $1.1 billion in total revenue for 2024-25, up from roughly $839.7 million the previous year. Schools earning full-distribution payments from the SEC received an average of roughly $72.4 million; Oklahoma and Texas received smaller distributions after joining the conference in July 2024 tied to CFP/bowl participation and designated NCAA funds.

The other leagues in the Power Four, the Atlantic Coast Conference and Big 12, haven’t yet released their annual tax filings covering the 2024-25 season.

Djokovic beaten by qualifier

ROME — Novak Djokovic was beaten by a Croatian qualifier 18 years younger than him at the Italian Open on Friday in his first match after two months out due to a right shoulder injury.

The 20-year-old Dino Prižmić defeated the record 24-time Grand Slam champion 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 with an ace on his first match point.

The 38-year-old Djokovic hadn’t played since March when he lost to Jack Draper in the fourth round in Indian Wells, California.

Djokovic had taping on his right shoulder that was revealed when he changed shirts between sets.

He declined to talk about any ailments, not wanting to take any focus from Prižmić. But Djokovic admitted he wanted more than one match at his only warmup for the French Open.

Real Madrid fines players

BARCELONA, Spain — Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with $588,000 fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.

The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.

On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion.”

Mavericks hire Schmitz as GM

DALLAS — The Dallas Mavericks hired Mike Schmitz as general manager on Friday, naming the Portland Trail Blazers’ assistant GM to his new role three days after introducing Masai Ujiri as team president and alternate governor.

The announcement gives Schmitz the title Nico Harrison held until he was fired in November, nine months after trading Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in a move that backfired badly on the franchise.

The Associated Press