Average commissioner pay in the so-called “Power Five” has soared from about $541,000 to $2.58 million.

Daily Gazette reports.

Salaries for top 5 college conference bosses soar

By 8:30 on the East Coast on Monday night, tens of millions of televisions across the country will be turned to the same channel, as the most-watched program in the history of cable TV – the College Football Playoff national championship game – returns for a second year.

The game, which this year pits undefeated Clemson against one-loss Alabama, is the latest broadcast product created by the conference executives who run major college sports. ESPN is paying $7.3 billion over 12 years to televise the playoff and other bowl games, and most of that money will flow into the five wealthiest conferences. As a result of that massive deal and other recent innovations, there has never been a better time to be one of the men running those leagues.

In a decade, tax records show, average commissioner pay in the so-called “Power Five” – the Atlantic Coast, Big Ten, Big 12, Southeastern and Pacific-12 conferences – has soared from about $541,000 to $2.58 million. As a reward for making an industry fueled by unpaid athletes more lucrative than ever, the men who run these conferences have enjoyed staggering pay hikes doled out by the leaders of many of America’s largest universities.