Executive Compensation at the NCAA (2022)

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 9 independent board members of the governing party, although 27 are listed on the Form 990 (2021 for the year ending August 31, 2022)- due to timing differences;   16 of the 27 (59%) board members are male while 11 of the 27 (41%) are female.

In 2020, the NCAA appears to have been greatly affected by the pandemic due to the cancellation of sporting events.  In 2019, the organization raised about $1.1 billion, most of which came from television rights and championships/tournaments.  But in 2020, total revenue was $521 million (more than $500 million less than the year before).  Most revenue came from television rights ($165 million) and insurance recovery revenue ($274 million) in 2020.

In 2021, revenue recovered and was reported to be $1.1 billion, most of which came from television rights. And, in 2022, revenue increased to $1.224 billion.

Expenses were 1.192 billion (meaning the NCAA spent about $30 million less than they raised) in 2022 with the 5 largest expenses reported to be scholarships and grants ($682 million), travel and conferences ($135 million) , fees for services ($114 million), insurance ($103 million) and compensation ($75 million).

In 2022, 594 employees of the NCAA received $75 million in compensation, which equates to an average compensation of $126,000.  However, only 148 employees received more than $100,000 in compensation. The 16 most highly compensated employees were:

• $3,285,392:  Mark Emmert, President
• $3,547,697:  Donald Remy, EVP (thru 7/17/21)
• $1,484,753:  Stanley Wilcox, EVP
• $  995,086:  Brian Hainline, Chief Medical Officer
• $  760,559:  Kathleen McNeely, SVP of Admin and CFO (thru 9/12/22)
• $  671,375:  Joni Comstock, SVP
• $  654,791:  Daniel Gavitt, SVP
• $  605,936:  Jonathan Duncan, VP
• $  584,770:  Kevin Lennon, VP
• $  487,037:  Robert Williams, SVP
• $  474,883:  Scott Bearby, Managing Director
• $  458,028:  Cari Van Sense, SVP
• $  448,718:  David Schnase, VP
• $  425,774:  Felicia Martin, SVP
• $  410,635:  Lynn Holzman, VP
• $  404,249:  Theresa Gronau, VP

The 16 employees listed above received $15 million in compensation. 10 of the 16 (63%) of the most highly compensated employees are male while 6 (37%) are female. 8 of the 10 most highly compensated employees are male while 2 are female.

The most highly compensated employee was Mark Emmert, the President who received $18 million in compensation from 2017-2022:

• 2022:  $3,285,392
• 2021:  $2,991,112  
• 2020: $2,908,114
• 2019:  $2,719,779
• 2018:  $3,890,497
• 2017:  $2,433,207

The second most highly compensated employee was Donald Remy, the COO who received $11  million in compensation from 2017-2022 (yet left the organization as of 7/17/21):

• 2022:  $3,547,697  ($2.4 million was severance) 
• 2021: $1,761,612
• 2020: $1,697,971
• 2019:  $1,332,737
• 2018:  $1,268,374
• 2017:  $  996,535

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, Chief Medical Officer, COO, EVP, SVP’s (3), and VP’s (2). This was a non-taxable business expense.

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