Indiana moving 2010 game to Washington won't alter Big Ten revenue sharing

Many question the competitive balance of Indiana moving a 2010 home football date against Penn State to the Washington D.C. area.

But financially, the move could help its fellow Big Ten schools.

Indiana will receive $3 million from the Washington Redskins to move the game to FedEx Field, which holds more than 91,000 seats. It is required to sell 7,000 tickets and apply the Big Ten revenue-sharing formula despite the location.

“It will be the same if we played the game in Bloomington,” Indiana sports information director J.D. Campbell said.

Big Ten schools send 35 percent of its home gate revenue with a ceiling of $1 million and a floor of $300,000 to the league office, and then it is equally dispersed among the 11 schools. Following the 2008 football season, Indiana netted a profit of more than $1.75 million in Big Ten revenue sharing, the most among the league's 11 schools.

Only once did Indiana send in more than the $300,000 floor in its four home games.

Iowa lost nearly $700,000 in revenue sharing, fourth-most among Big Ten schools. Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State – all with stadiums exceeding 102,000 seats – lost more than $1 million in revenue sharing.

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Big Ten schools pool 35 percent in gate revenue and equally disperse it among the league's 11 schools. There's a $1 million cap and a $300,000 floor, and each school received $2,983,847 through football gate revenue sharing. Here's how much each school paid and the difference through league revenue sharing in 2008:

SCHOOL                   PAID                 DIFFERENCE

Illinois                    $2,404,174      $579,673

Indiana                   $1,226,943       $1,756,904

Iowa                         $3,665,104      ($681,257)

Michigan                $4 million         ($1,016,153)

Michigan State     $3,407,422     ($423,574)

Minnesota              $2,312,976     $670,871

Norththwestern   $1,579,132     $1,404,716

Ohio State               $4 million        ($1,016,153)

Penn State              $4 million        ($1,016,153)

Purdue                     $2,603,709    $380,138

Wisconsin               $3,622,858     ($639,011)