Emmert paid $1.7 million as NCAA revenue increases

National Collegiate Athletic Association President Mark Emmert made $1.71 million in 2012, a 2-percent increase over the previous year, according to the organization’s most recent tax documents.

Monday’s tax filing comes as the NCAA faces unprecedented scrutiny, including a handful of lawsuits and an effort by Northwestern University football players to form college sports’ first player union.

Total compensation for employees of college sports’ governing body rose 9.2 percent, the organization said in an emailed release, citing the filling of vacant positions and higher health insurance costs. Chief operating officer Jim Isch was the NCAA’s second-highest-paid executive, making $1.01 million.

Emmert made $1.71 million in calendar year 2012, which included $235,000 in deferred compensation that he cannot receive until October 2017. That’s up from the $1.67 million he made in total compensation in 2011.

The 61-year-old Emmert, who has held the position since 2010, testified last month in a three-week trial over whether college athletes should be compensated for the NCAA’s use of their images or likenesses. He said that paying student athletes would betray the organization’s core value of amateurism and damage the popular appeal of college sports.

The Indianapolis-based NCAA’s overall revenue increased 4 percent, to $874 million, in the fiscal year ended August 2013. The organization said the growth was due in part to increased media royalties and higher revenue at Division I championship events.

Expenses rose 6.4 percent, to $842 million, in that same time frame.