I found this article, discussing Big East payments to schools, interesting:
https://painttouches.com/2023/09/08/big-east-sees-36-revenue-jump-post-covid/Looks like for 2022, Creighton received a little over $5 million from the Big East (TV contract, tourney credits, etc.).
This table suggests Creighton's basketball revenue is approximately $14 million annually (I assume this includes everything, including tickets):
https://www.collegeraptor.com/college-rankings/details/TopRevenue/Conference/Big-East-Conference/I am not sure how accurate all of this is, and I am ignorant about operating costs. But it seems clear from the data that with the exception of UConn, the rest of the Big East schools are generally in a similar boat. So how are other programs in the conference able to pay their coaches more?
If all the schools are generally getting the same payouts from the conference, and Creighton leads the conference in attendance, where is the disconnect? Are our tickets too cheap? Do other programs simply have much bigger boosters? Is the men's basketball program forced to support all other sports without much support from general university funds?
These aren't rhetorical questions. I simply don't know.