Former Big 12 Conference commissioner Bob Bowlsby, who resigned from his position in 2022, received more than $17.2 million in total compensation for his final year, according to the league's most recent tax records, which were obtained Thursday by ESPN .
Bowlsby was paid $12.26 million for the remaining three years of his contract, and the Big 12 also paid Bowlsby $15,000 for six months of consulting, according to a conference spokesperson. The Big 12 also paid Bowlsby another “vested” $3.337 million, according to the league. That includes $2.6 million that the conference had reported as deferred compensation in prior years' tax returns.
According to USA Today, which first reported the numbers, former Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott received two severance payments of $1.5 million each in 2021 and 2022. Former ACC commissioner John Swofford, who He retired in June 2021 after 24 years, receiving almost $2.6 million. in 2022 from the ACC, according to USA Today, and almost all of it was reported as base salary.
Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany earned nearly $5.9 million in 2022, according to USA Today, including $2.8 million in deferred compensation reported on prior years' results. In July 2015, Delany became eligible to receive more than $20 million in future bonuses and will receive them over a 10-year period, through the 2027 calendar year.
Bowlsby was named commissioner in 2012, following defections from Nebraska, Missouri, Colorado and Texas A&M to other leagues. He added TCU and West Virginia and was able to maintain the Big 12's role as a Power 5 league and reinstated the conference title game in 2017.
In April 2022, the Big 12 announced that Bowlsby would be “stepping away” from his position leading the league. The Big 12, which does not have to disclose its labor agreements because it is a private nonprofit organization, declined to provide ESPN with a copy of Bowlsby's contract.
Bowlsby was one of four members of the College Football Playoff management committee who wrote the original plan for a proposed 12-team field in June 2021, along with former Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick, the former commissioner of the Mountain West Conference, Craig Thompson, and SEC Commissioner Greg. Sankey.
