The bowl payouts are a matter of public record, so one need simply to do some digging to find out what the Pac 12 schools stand to earn from the 2011-12 bowl selections. The Oregon Ducks in the Rose Bowl stand to earn $17,000,000. The Stanford Cardinal, as a second BCS team, will earn $4,500,000 in the Fiesta Bowl. Playing in the Alamo Bowl the Washington Huskies stand to earn $3,175,000, while the California Golden Bears will earn $2,075,000 in the Holiday Bowl.
↵The Utah Utes payout in the Sun Bowl will be $2,000,000, the Arizona St. Sun Devils at the Las Vegas Bowl will earn $1,100,000, and UCLA at the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl will pull in $925,000. Historically the Pac 10, and now the Pac 12 pooled the bowl earnings and split them evenly amongst member institutions after expenses.
↵The after expenses part is important. According to reports, in 2010 the expense allowance for the Rose Bowl was $1.5 million plus the cost of 600 charter airline seats. For the 2009 Holiday Bowl, the expense allowance was $1.1 million plus the cost of 500 charter seats.
↵Still, with the second bowl bid, it looks like Pac 12 schools are set to split $30,687,500 before expenses. If expenses haven't grown too much over the last two years, that figure for seven participating schools should be somewhere around $10,000,000.
↵The other way schools make money on the bowls is through licensed merchandise. The individual coaches often have bonuses written into their contract for playing in specific bowls. However, as with all public record items, what is released is not always close to the truth.