In 1990, I attended my first SEC Spring Meetings in Destin, Fla. The meetings mark the official end to the academic year for the conference, and when the meetings concluded there was a celebration as each of the 10 schools received a share of revenue generated from TV, bowl games, the NCAA basketball tournament and the like.
That June, the SEC schools shared $16.3 million – about $1.5 million per school.
“And our schools were thrilled to have it,” said Roy Kramer, who had taken over as commissioner the previous January. “Some of our schools were on very tight budgets.