OSU Athletic Salaries Climb Along With Football, Hoops Revenues
 |
Jim Tressel Earned $2.5M Last Year And Ranks
Fifth Among Top-Paid Coaches In The Country |
Salaries for some coaches and athletic department administrators at Ohio State Univ. (OSU) "doubled and, for others, tripled in inflation-adjusted terms" in the decade since '98, and the pay raises "were funded not by tax dollars, but largely by revenue surpluses in the football and men's basketball programs," according to a front-page piece by Bill Bush of the COLUMBUS DISPATCH. The OSU athletic department is a $115M-a-year "sports empire" that "employed 317 people last year, almost 100 more people" than in '98, a 43% increase. The department's payroll has grown from $10.6M in '98 to $25.4M last year, a 79% increase "adjusting for inflation." OSU AD Gene Smith earned $675,000 last year, "more than double the nearly" $312,000 that AD Andy Geiger earned in '98, and higher than the average salary of $473,000 for Big Ten ADs. The school last year spent $5M "just for its three highest-paid coaches," football coach Jim Tressel, men's basketball coach Thad Matta and women's basketball coach Jim Foster. Tressel last year earned $2.5M, and Smith said that Tressel ranked fifth among the top-paid coaches in the country. Matta in '08 made $1.8M, while Foster earned $789,350, "more than double" the $372,000 that former coach Mary Burns made in '98. The football and basketball programs in '08 generated about $26M and $9M, respectively, for the school, "helping to justify hefty coaching pay." Univ. of Oregon's Charles H. Lundquist College of Business Dean Dennis Howard said that OSU "has cashed in by 'leveraging a monopoly position' in Buckeyes football, which is the 'pre-eminent sports franchise in Columbus.'" OSU since '98 "has changed coaches' compensation packages to put more emphasis on performance-based bonuses and other sources of revenue, such as camps," though Smith "expects salaries to begin to level out, possibly not as quickly in football and men's basketball as in other sports." Meanwhile, Smith indicated that TV and the Internet "will become more important sources of cash" for the school. Bush noted the OSU athletic department is "entirely self-supporting," and it "produces enough money through ticket sales, television revenue, concessions and other sources to pay for its 36 sports programs, plus donate money to other university causes, such as $9[M] toward the Main Library renovation" (COLUMBUS DISPATCH, 4/13).
|
