Executive Compensation at the NCAA (2019)

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.

There are 21 independent board members of the governing party although 25 board members are listed on the Form 990 (probably due to timing differences). 19 of the 25 (76%) board members are male while 6 of the 25 (24%) are female.

At year-end (August 31, 2019), the NCAA reported total net assets of $450 million (compared to $380 million at the beginning of the year), which was primarily because they did not spend as much revenue as they received.

The NCAA raised about $1.1 billion in 2019 – most of which came from from television rights (78%) and championships/National Invitation Tournament (16% of revenue).  Expenses were $1 billion with the 3 largest expenses reported to be scholarships and grants ($636 million), championship expenses ($179 million), and compensation ($78 million).

In 2019, 650 employees of the NCAA received $78 million in compensation, which equates to an average compensation of $120,000.  However, only 115 employees received more than $100,000 in compensation. The 17 most highly compensated employees were:

• $2,719,179:  Mark Emmert, President
• $1,332,737:  Donald Remy, EVP
• $  713,074:  Brian Hainline, Chief Medical Officer
• $  677,227:  Kathleen McNeely, SVP of Admin and CFO
• $  650,939:  Oliver Luck, Former EVP
• $  600,025:  Joni Comstock, SVP
• $  604,669:  Daniel Gavitt, SVP
• $  553,547:  Katrice Albert, EVP
• $  542,021:  Jonathan Duncan, VP
• $  515,156:  Kevin Lennon, VP
• $  455,089:  Bernard Franklin, Former EVP
• $  447,903:  Robert Williams, SVP
• $  413,651:  Scott Bearby, Managing Director
• $  392,607:  David Schnase, VP
• $  387,127:  Lynn Holzman, VP
• $  355,561:  Felica Martin, VP
• $  332,225:  Stanley Wilcox, EVP

The 17 employees listed above received $11 million in compensation. 12 of the 17 (71%) of the most highly compensated employees are male while 5 (29%) are female. 7 of the 10 most highly compensated employees are male while 3 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 (2), SVP’s (3), VP’s (3), and highly compensated employees (1). This was a non-taxable business expense.

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