TerryP
Staff
- Auburn athletics department reports $865,994 deficit in 2013.
- Auburn spent $2.7M on severance payments in 2013.
- FB ticket revenue declined for 3rd straight year under Chizik.
- Auburn's potential cost of attendance number for athletes was identical in 2012 & 2013: $5,696.
Auburn Athletic Finances
| Year | Total Revenue | Total Expenses | Surplus/Deficit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | $103,680,609 | $104,546,603 | -$865,994 |
| 2012 | $105,951,253 | $97,128,835 | +$8,822,418 |
| 2011 | $103,982,441 | $100,497,784 | +$3,484,657 |
| 2010 | $92,611,558 | $90,908,902 | +$1,702,656 |
| 2009 | $87,001,413 | $85,480,343 | +$1,521,070 |
| 2008 | $89,311,824 | $69,841,200 | +$19,470,624 |
| 2007 | $81,799,266 | $68,910,465 | +$12,888,801 |
| 2006 | $66,599,925 | $63,249,119 | +$3,350,806 |
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Auburn University's athletics department reported a deficit of $865,994 for its 2013 fiscal year, according to the university's most recent NCAA financial report.
This marked the first time Auburn listed a deficit since AL.com began tracking college athletics financial data eight years ago. Auburn reported a surplus of $8.8 million in 2011-12, the year before Gene Chizik's disastrous final season as football coach.
Severance payments totaled $2.7 million in 2013, largely for Chizik and his staff after the Tigers went 3-9. Auburn Senior Associate Athletics Director Jack Smith said the athletics department drew upon a cash reserve of more than $15 million to cover last year's operating deficit. Alabama reported a $21.2 million surplus in 2013.
Auburn's latest NCAA report showed a $3.8 million deficit in 2013 after removing $4.3 million in subsidies from student fees and a $1.4 million transfer from the athletics department to the university.
Student fee subsidies also prevented Auburn from reporting deficits on its NCAA reports in 2011, 2010 and 2009. Auburn would have had a $5.4 million surplus in 2012 without student fees.
Since 2006, Auburn has reported to the NCAA a cumulative surplus of $50.4 million. That figure does not factor out student fee subsidies. Auburn has listed no institutional support for at least eight straight years.
In 2013, Auburn had $103.7 million in total athletics revenue, down 2 percent from a year earlier and its lowest since 2010. When adjusting for inflation, Auburn's annual revenue has increased by 35 percent since 2006.
Auburn's annual athletic-related debt service increased by about $1 million in 2013 to $10 million. The total athletic debt balance last year was $108.8 million, accounting for 15 percent of the university's overall debt.
Last year's financial numbers appear to have been heavily impacted by a historically bad season in football. Chizik was fired after the season and replaced by Gus Malzahn, who took the Tigers to the BCS Championship Game in his first year. Auburn spent $2.3 million more on severance payments in 2013 than in 2012.
Football ticket sales in Chizik's final season totaled $27.2 million, marking the third straight year with a decline. Football ticket revenue generated $27.6 million in 2011 and $27.9 million in 2012. Auburn is selling non-renewable season tickets at a reduced price for 2014.
Donations to Auburn's athletics department in 2013 ($31.8 million) also dropped, after reaching $33.5 million in 2012. Contributions attributed to football declined by $1.2 million between 2012 and 2013.
Auburn's football team accounted for 81 percent of the athletics department's contribution dollars and 96 percent of its ticket revenue. Ticket revenue for other Auburn teams in 2012-13:
* Men's basketball, $921,129
* Baseball, $240,487
* Women's basketball, $68,882
* Gymnastics, $35,966
* Women's golf, $2,765
Men's basketball ticket revenue was up 4 percent from the previous year, although the dollar amount figures to rank among the SEC's lowest. In the three years of NCAA reports since the $90 million Auburn Arena opened in 2010, Auburn totaled $2.8 million in ticket sales compared to $1.3 million during the final three seasons at Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum.
On the other hand, basketball donations in Tony Barbee's first three seasons as coach totaled $6.1 million, down from $7.8 million during Jeff Lebo's final three years, all of which were at the old arena. Basketball donations dipped to $1.9 million in 2013 after peaking at nearly $3 million in 2010 as money was being raised for the arena. Barbee was fired this month and replaced by Bruce Pearl.
Expenses for Auburn's athletics department in 2013 totaled $104.5 million, the second time in three years it spent more than $100 million. Back in 2006, Auburn spent $63.2 million.
The largest expense remains compensation for coaches, support staff and administrators, which reached $34.7 million in 2013. When adjusting for inflation, Auburn's costs for athletics department employees have increased 62 percent since 2006.
The athletics department spent $10.4 million on scholarships in 2013, when the university's average cost of a full scholarship was $20,852 in-state and $36,596 out-of-state. For the second straight year, Auburn listed on its NCAA report the exact same average cost of a full scholarship and total cost of attendance, meaning the cost-of-attendance gap for an Auburn athlete remained $5,696.
Cost of attendance is an amount calculated by each institution's financial aid office that includes miscellaneous expenses beyond tuition, room, board and required books. The NCAA is trying to pass a rule allowing schools to provide athletes with an undetermined extra amount from a cost-of-attendance stipend, a measure the SEC supports.
The NCAA and some of its conferences face several lawsuits that attempt to better compensate athletes from college sports' multi-billion-dollar industry.
