Kevin Warren was a polarizing presence for fans during his time as the Big Ten commissioner.
But the now-Chicago Bears president was clearly a popular figure within the conference itself; so much so that the Big Ten Council of Presidents and Chancellors awarded him with a $5.75 million bonus in 2023, according to tax returns obtained by USA Today.
Warren’s big bonus brought his total compensation for 2023 to just over $6.8 million. That marked his final year as the Big Ten’s commissioner, a role he assumed in 2020 before overseeing the league’s polarizing approach to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Perhaps the signature moment of Warren’s three-plus-year tenure as Big Ten commissioner, however, came in the form of the conference’s new media rights deal. First announced in 2022 before going into the effect the following year, the seven-year, $8 billion agreement saw the league eliminate its previous agreement with ESPN in favor of a new deal featuring partnerships with Fox, NBC and CBS.
That agreement also appears to have played a significant role in Warren’s big bonus. In a statement to USA Today, a conference spokesperson said that the bonus was awarded “for his accomplishments over his full tenure as commissioner, including his contributions to the new TV rights deal.”
Considering that his 2023 bonus seemed to be based on his previous year’s performance, it’s also worth noting that 2022 was the year that the Big Ten reached agreements to add USC and UCLA amid conference expansion. The Big Ten also continued to grow its West Coast footprint a year later with the additions of Oregon and Washington.
USA Today‘s reporting noted that Warren’s bonus marked “one of the largest such payments in college sports” since the outlet began tracking the pay of coaches and administrators in 2006. To that end — and thanks in large part to the TV deal that Warren helped negotiate — the Big Ten clearly has plenty of money to go around. According to USA Today, the conference reported $928 million in total revenue for 2024 and is currently on track to pay 16 of its 18 schools $75 million in 2025, as Oregon and Washington continue to be phased into the revenue sharing.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.