Arizona State's athletic department revenue "took another jump to a record" $94.6M for FY '16, creating a $5.5M surplus in its annual operating budget, according to Jeff Metcalfe of the ARIZONA REPUBLIC. ASU revenue increased 12.1%, up from $84.4M for FY '15, while expenses rose 6.2% from $83.8M to $89M. That is a "bottom line increase" of slightly more than $5M from $566,525 for FY '15. ASU VP/Athletics Ray Anderson said, "We're making progress. We're nowhere near where we should be (in revenue) given the attractiveness of our sports, the size of our alumni base and the attractiveness overall of our vision." Metcalfe noted Anderson started at ASU in January '14, midway through FY '14, when athletic department revenue was $74.7M and the budget surplus was $164,919. ASU "first began charging students $75 per semester for athletics" in FY '15. ASU's 13% revenue increase in FY '15 was "primarily due to implementation of the student athletic fee." For FY '16, the revenue jump "comes mostly from increases in the combined categories of media rights, NCAA distributions and Pac-12 distributions." In the royalties, licensing and sponsorships category, ASU revenue rose to $13.6M, "largely due to a new athletic apparel contract" with adidas that took effect in July '15. Meanwhile, on the expense side, ASU's largest increases for FY '16 "were for athletic student aid, support staff/administrative compensation and direct overhead/administration expenses" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 2/16).
