March Madness Daily: The Rise of The Extension Bonus
Most coaches earn cash bonuses during March Madness. Some, like Kentucky's Mark Pope, are also earning something else.
Welcome back to Club Sportico, where we break down the intersection of sports and money—with an extra bit of humor and opinion. Here’s a nugget about college coaches and their contracts:
Eben: Millions of dollars are distributed each year to coaches for their performance during March Madness. For most, it comes in the form of cash bonuses for reaching tournament milestones. Tennessee coach Rick Barnes, for example, earned $200,000 when the Volunteers 🐶 reached the Sweet Sixteen last night.
But there’s a different kind of bonus that’s gaining in popularity: the automatic contract extension. A handful of coaches will have additional years added to their deals as part of their March Madness incentives.
One of them is Kentucky coach Mark Pope. In May 2024, Pope signed a five-year deal that will pay him an average of $5.5 million per year (plus bonuses). Should the Wildcats 🐱 beat Illinois ❓ on Sunday to reach the Sweet Sixteen, he’ll earn a $50,000 bonus, but also another year added to his contract. His pay in that year: $5.25 million.
Pope will likely never see that money directly. If things go poorly in Lexington, he’ll be fired well before 2030. If things go well, he’ll sign a new contract at some point before then. But it is additional leverage, and could pay off for him if he’s ever bought out. The school, of course, gets a way of automatically extending a coach only if he or she is maintaining a high on-court standard.
Pope isn’t alone. Here is an incomplete list of coaches that have earned additional years on their contract with their postseason performance in 2025, according to contracts I’ve seen and reporting by USA Today:
Arkansas men’s coach John Calipari 🐗
West Virginia women’s coach Mark Kellogg 🤠
Illinois men’s coach Brad Underwood ❓
Kansas State women’s coach Jeff Mittie 🐈
Mississippi State men’s coach Chris Jans 🐶
Louisville men’s coach Pat Kelsey 🐦
Programming note: We’ll be sending daily business nuggets throughout the NCAA tournaments. If that’s not your thing, you can opt out of daily March Madness posts by updating your settings here or with the button below. We’ll return to normal programming in April.
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