🏈 SEC Arms Race: Revenues and Expenditures for the past year...

[TerryP]

This is the one that Forbes Magazine publishes every year. I'll have to look, but as of the published date on this report the US Dept. of Ed. hadn't released their final report...no, let me put it another way. I haven't found it yet. The author says she's using their report...I'll look in more detail later.

It's always interesting to me to compare programs within the conference and comparing SEC teams to other conference teams. IE: Vandy vs Wake Forest, etc. Seeing Ole Miss under Vandy along with UK and MSU? That shocked me.

There are some really interesting things here. There are a few things that jumped out at me when I read this.

One, the disparity between the bottom two in the league and the top two both in terms of profit and expenses.

Secondly, we are just a few years removed from Arkansas being one of the most profitable programs in the SEC. That's changed since Broyles retired.

Here's the C&P of the article...next post.

 

[TerryP]

Is your team turning a profit in its athletic department? Is it spending in line with its revenue? Could this have any effect on performance on the field?

Thanks to a federal statute requiring all colleges and universities that receive Title IV funding (federal student aid) to report the financials for their athletic department, I have the answers for you.

First, let me explain the data and why it’s credible. The data I have is from the U.S. Department of Education. Federal statute not only require schools to report the financials for their athletic department (if they receive the Title IV funding, which all SEC schools do), but it also prescribes what should be included in each category.

For example, when we take a look at revenue it includes gate receipts, broadcast revenues, appearance guarantees and options, concessions, and advertising. In terms of expenses, we’re looking at grants-in-aid, salaries, travel, equipment, and supplies. Because these items are defined by federal statute, creating as much uniformity as possible, the financials of each institution are fairly easily compared.

It’s also important to note that this data is from July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2010, so we’re talking about the 2009 football season. Data for 2010 will be available late this year. Another note is that Vanderbilt and Ole Miss presented financial statements that perfectly balance, showing no profit in the football program, so both their revenue and expenses for football are identical.

Let’s take a look at how the schools rank in terms of revenue for just the football program. For added comparison, I have put each school’s stadium capacity next to their name, since that would have a direct effect on their ability to bring in revenue:

<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="537"> <tbody> <tr> <td width="27">
</td> <td width="191">
</td> <td width="191">Stadium Capacity</td> <td width="129">Football Revenue</td> </tr> <tr> <td>1</td> <td>Univ. of Alabama</td> <td>101,821</td> <td>$71,884,525.00</td> </tr> <tr> <td>2</td> <td>Univ. of Georgia</td> <td>92,746</td> <td>$70,838,539.00</td> </tr> <tr> <td>3</td> <td>Louisiana State Univ.</td> <td>92,400</td> <td>$68,819,806.00</td> </tr> <tr> <td>4</td> <td>Univ. of Florida</td> <td>88,548</td> <td>$68,715,750.00</td> </tr> <tr> <td>5</td> <td>Auburn Univ.</td> <td>87,451</td> <td>$66,162,720.00</td> </tr> <tr> <td>6</td> <td>Univ. of South Carolina</td> <td>80,250</td> <td>$58,266,159.00</td> </tr> <tr> <td>7</td> <td>Univ. of Tennessee</td> <td>102,037</td> <td>$56,593,946.00</td> </tr> <tr> <td>8</td> <td>Univ. of Arkansas</td> <td>76,000</td> <td>$48,524,244.00</td> </tr> <tr> <td>9</td> <td>Univ. of Kentucky</td> <td>67,606</td> <td>$31,890,572.00</td> </tr> <tr> <td>10</td> <td>Univ. of Mississippi</td> <td>60,580</td> <td>$28,409,774.00</td> </tr> <tr> <td>11</td> <td>Mississippi State Univ.</td> <td>55,082</td> <td>$14,551,275.00</td> </tr> <tr> <td>12</td> <td>Vanderbilt Univ.</td> <td>41,448</td> <td>$14,152,061.00</td> </tr> </tbody> </table>
I’m sure it comes as no surprise to see perennial contenders like LSU, Florida and Alabama at the top. I was surprised to see, however, that Ole Miss brings in less than Vanderbilt.

Now let’s take a look at who the big spenders are:
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="408"> <tbody> <tr> <td width="27">
</td> <td width="191">

</td> <td width="191">Football Expenses</td> </tr> <tr> <td>1</td> <td>Univ. of Alabama</td> <td>$31,118,134.00</td> </tr> <tr> <td>2</td> <td>Auburn Univ.</td> <td>$27,911,713.00</td> </tr> <tr> <td>3</td> <td>Louisiana State Univ.</td> <td>$25,566,520.00</td> </tr> <tr> <td>4</td> <td>Univ. of Florida</td> <td>$24,457,557.00</td> </tr> <tr> <td>5</td> <td>Univ. of South Carolina</td> <td>$22,794,211.00</td> </tr> <tr> <td>6</td> <td>Univ. of Arkansas</td> <td>$22,005,104.00</td> </tr> <tr> <td>7</td> <td>Univ. of Georgia</td> <td>$18,308,654.00</td> </tr> <tr> <td>8</td> <td>Univ. of Tennessee</td> <td>$17,357,345.00</td> </tr> <tr> <td>9</td> <td>Vanderbilt Univ.</td> <td>$14,152,061.00</td> </tr> <tr> <td>10</td> <td>Univ. of Kentucky</td> <td>$13,905,724.00</td> </tr> <tr> <td>11</td> <td>Univ. of Mississippi</td> <td>$11,920,510.00</td> </tr> <tr> <td>12</td> <td>Mississippi State Univ.</td> <td>$9,951,097.00</td> </tr> </tbody> </table>
Again, perennial contenders Alabama, LSU and Florida maintain their positions atop the list. However, take a look at Auburn, who ranks higher in terms of spending than revenue. Perhaps a foreshadowing of the 2010 season that was to come? And what about Georgia? They move from being the second highest in terms of revenue to only the seventh biggest spender.

In fact, Georgia brings in the most in terms of profits in SEC football because of their lower expenses relative to their revenues. Their profit was over $8 million more than the next highest school, Florida:

<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="408"> <tbody> <tr> <td width="27">
</td> <td width="191">
</td> <td width="191">Football Profit</td> </tr> <tr> <td>1</td> <td>Univ. of Georgia</td> <td>$52,529,885.00</td> </tr> <tr> <td>2</td> <td>Univ. of Florida</td> <td>$44,258,193.00</td> </tr> <tr> <td>3</td> <td>Louisiana State Univ.</td> <td>$43,253,286.00</td> </tr> <tr> <td>4</td> <td>Univ. of Alabama</td> <td>$40,766,391.00</td> </tr> <tr> <td>5</td> <td>Univ. of Tennessee</td> <td>$39,236,601.00</td> </tr> <tr> <td>6</td> <td>Auburn Univ.</td> <td>$38,251,007.00</td> </tr> <tr> <td>7</td> <td>Univ. of South Carolina</td> <td>$35,471,948.00</td> </tr> <tr> <td>8</td> <td>Univ. of Arkansas</td> <td>$26,519,140.00</td> </tr> <tr> <td>9</td> <td>Univ. of Kentucky</td> <td>$17,984,848.00</td> </tr> <tr> <td>10</td> <td>Univ. of Mississippi</td> <td>$16,489,264</td> </tr> <tr> <td>11</td> <td>Mississippi State Univ.</td> <td>$4,600,178.00</td> </tr> <tr> <td>12</td> <td>Vanderbilt Univ.</td> <td>$0.00</td> </tr> </tbody> </table>
Georgia isn’t just #1 in the SEC in terms of profits, they’re #2 in the entire country behind Texas.
If you do the math, Georgia is only putting 25.8% of their football revenue back into the program.

Meanwhile, the 2009 National Champion, Alabama, was putting 43.3% back into their program, and the 2010 National Champion, Auburn, invested 42.2 percent.

Is there perhaps a correlation between this and results on the field? Georgia went 7-5 in 2009 and just 6-6 in 2010. Comparing Georgia to Texas, who is the only school with bigger profits from football, the two are spending at about the same rate, with Texas putting 26.7% back into their program. However, Texas is spending $25,112,331 to Georgia’s $18,308,654.

I’ll also note that Georgia is second in the SEC in terms of overall athletic department profit at $11.7 million. Alabama, who posted the highest profits for its athletic department, is an outlier with a $44 million profit (more to come on that in a later post). Ole Miss presented a balanced sheet, so they show no profit in the athletic department. However, the other 10 schools posted an average profit of $5.4 million, putting Georgia’s athletic department at more than twice the average profit.

Can these 2009 numbers predict the future for Georgia?

Take a look at the teams ahead of Georgia in terms of expenses (in the second chart above). In 2010, Georgia lost to every team they played who spent more than them in 2009: Florida, Arkansas and South Carolina.

Just some food for thought as we all spend the offseason pondering what went wrong in 2010 for our respective teams and what we can expect in 2011.

 

[LBS]

Noting these lines speaking to the goings and comings of money "...when we take a look at revenue it includes gate receipts, broadcast revenues, appearance guarantees and options, concessions, and advertising. In terms of expenses, we’re looking at grants-in-aid, salaries, travel, equipment, and supplies." it begs a couple of questions in my mind.

1) What is being done with the money? I immediatly speculated that it went to help pay toward the note assumed with all the facility upgrades, but then thought it odd that the writer included equipment and supplies and took the extra step to include the staduim size but would omit what could be the single largerst expense a program encures.

2) Where do the millions brought in from TidePride donations above and beyond the face value ticket price fall with respects to these numbers? So much of that money goes to the Academic side of the University which lends no benfit to the spending power of the Athletic program as this article seems to aiming ot shine a light on.

 

[Swamptick]

This thread is VERY interesting.

 

[psychojoe]

More, please Terry. My guess is that part of our overall profit picture is that we make a little money on baseball, softball, gymnastics and men's basketball. Do you have those figures?

 

[TerryP]

Noting these lines speaking to the goings and comings of money "...when we take a look at revenue it includes gate receipts, broadcast revenues, appearance guarantees and options, concessions, and advertising. In terms of expenses, we’re looking at grants-in-aid, salaries, travel, equipment, and supplies." it begs a couple of questions in my mind.

1) What is being done with the money? I immediatly speculated that it went to help pay toward the note assumed with all the facility upgrades, but then thought it odd that the writer included equipment and supplies and took the extra step to include the staduim size but would omit what could be the single largerst expense a program encures.

2) Where do the millions brought in from TidePride donations above and beyond the face value ticket price fall with respects to these numbers? So much of that money goes to the Academic side of the University which lends no benfit to the spending power of the Athletic program as this article seems to aiming ot shine a light on.

You have to take into account the Title IX funding that goes to support all the programs at UA. The revenue/profit goes to the Ath. Dept. to help cover the expenses of the other sports...for one.

I don't know this years numbers, but after the NC in '92 the Ath. Dept. donated over 6MM to the University which basically built the student rec center on campus.

Equipment? Remember all the equipment installed in the study areas of Bryant Hall?

Stadium expansions didn't come from revenue and didn't count under expenditures either. It's under the Crimson Foundation Fund that Coach Moore created.