Executive Compensation at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a non-profit, tax-exempt 501 (c) (3) organization focused on college sports in the US. With 1,100 member colleges and universities in 102 athletic conferences across the country that participate in 90 championships in 24 sports in 3 divisions, the NCAA is a powerful and well financed organization.

The NCAA raised about $1.1 billion in 2017 – most of which came from from television rights (77%) and championships/National Invitation Tournament (10% of revenue) and investment income (10% of revenue). Expenses were nearly $1 billion with the 3 largest expense scholarships and grants ($586 million), championship expenses ($134 million), and compensation ($70 million).

In 2017, 629 employees of the NCAA received $70 million in compensation, which equates to an average compensation of $111,300.  However, only 115 employees received more than $100,000 in compensation. The 18 most highly compensated employees were:

• $2,433,207:  Mark Emmert, President
• $1,745,956:  Mark Lewis, EVP
• $  996,535:  Donald Remy, EVP
• $  855,738:  Oliver Luck, EVP
• $  632,879:  Bernard Franklin, EVP
• $  613,212:  Kathleen McNeely, SVP of Admin and CFO
• $  603,200:  Brian Hainline, Chief Medical Officer
• $  540,000:  James Isch, Former Key Employee
• $  501,372:  Jonathan Duncan, VP
• $  467,625:  Joni Comstock, SVP
• $  467,007:  Kevin Lennon, VP
• $  453,787:  Daniel Gavitt, SVP
• $  396,419:  Robert Williams, SVP
• $  353,989:  Scott Bearby, Managing Director
• $  353,491:  David Schnase, VP
• $  343,558:  Anucha Browne, VP
• $  339,855:  Keith Martin, Managing Director
• $  287,365:  Robert Fiala, Managing Director

The 18 employees listed above received $12 million in compensation. 15 of the 18 (83%) of the most highly compensated employees are male while 3 (17%) are female. 8 of the 10 most highly compensated employees are male while 2 are female.

The NCAA paid for first class or charter travel. Specifically, the NCAA paid for chartered business travel, when necessary due to scheduling for the President, EVP’s (3), SVP’s (2), VP (1), and highly compensated employees (2). This was a non-taxable business expense.

The NCAA paid for companion travel. Specifically, the NCAA paid for companion travel for the President.