UNIVERSITY PARK — Penn State’s four-year Big Ten bowl revenue ban will end a year early, the conference’s council of presidents and chancellors announced Thursday.
Penn State was slated to play one more season without receiving a share of the conference’s bowl revenue, a penalty put in place in 2012 as part of the fallout from the Jerry Sandusky child sexual abuse scandal.
The NCAA lifted Penn State’s postseason ban in September, but the Big Ten stuck to its sanction. Despite playing in the Pinstripe Bowl in December, the Nittany Lions missed out on $4.6 million in the conference’s bowl revenue distribution this past season.
Starting next season, Penn State will be eligible for a full share of bowl revenue, which is divided evenly among the conference’s members.
“We are grateful to the Big Ten and the Council of Presidents and Chancellors for their decision to restore Penn State’s share of the conference bowl revenues to the university in the upcoming football season,” Penn State president Eric Barron said in a statement. “These funds will help to support our 31 teams and more than 850 student-athletes.”
The penalties have cost Penn State at least $9.6 million in lost revenue since the 2012-13 season. Before the ban was implemented, the university donated $2.6 million — Penn State’s share of bowl revenue from the 2011-12 season — to programs that aid in the prevention and treatment of sexual abuse.
The Big Ten withheld at least $2.3 million in 2013 and $2.75 million as part of the revenue ban. Without the money — $12.25 million, including the money donated in 2012 — Penn State has delayed several projects and capital upgrades, athletic director Sandy Barbour said in an interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette last month.
When the conference announced the penalties in 2012, it estimated Penn State would lose a total of $13 million.
That total likely would have been higher had the Big Ten kept the sanctions intact. The College Football Playoff has been a windfall for athletic programs. After bowl expenses, the Big Ten brought in $57.5 million in bowl money this season, up from $33.3 million the previous season.
Some estimates call for Big Ten schools to earn as much as $6.6 million each from bowl game revenues next season.
During the revenue ban, Penn State’s bowl money was split among the conference’s other schools where it was used to help local child and sexual abuse organizations.
In the coming months, Penn State’s share of the money from the 2014-15 season will be distributed throughout the conference for schools to donate to various child and sexual abuse organizations.
But those organizations will lose out on that money next year. Big Ten spokesman Scott Chipman said when Penn State receives its share of bowl revenue next season, there will not be any additional funds distributed to the local abuse organizations.
“These funds are vital to our ability to continue to create the very best conditions for success for our student athletes,” Barbour said in a statement. “This is yet another step in allowing today’s student athletes all the opportunities they deserve.”
Penn State still must pay a $60 million fine as part of the NCAA’s sanctions against the university. From that fine, $48 million will stay in the commonwealth to provide services to child victims, and $12 million will be invested in an endowment that will support child maltreatment research.
“While we are pleased with the decision, we will not waver in our commitment to prevent child abuse, to maintain our leading compliance and safety programs, and to continue to invest in our teaching and research efforts focused on child abuse prevention and treatment,” Barron said.
Audrey Snyder: asnyder@post-gazette.com and Twitter @audsnyder4.
First Published: February 12, 2015, 7:01 p.m.
