The Univ. of Iowa athletic department has “recovered from its financial losses from COVID-19,” bringing in more than $167.4M in income during FY23 -- which ended June 30 -- and marking the school’s first seven-figure surplus in five years at $7.1M over expenses ($160.3M), according to Scott Dochterman of THE ATHLETIC. Iowa’s total revenue was $15.9M more than it was in FY22 and the “two primary areas for the financial jump” include bringing in nearly $43M in contributions -- nearly $13.4M more than the previous year. Total ticket sales also “soared year over year” by $3.2M. The football program earned $23.3M in ticket revenue, up nearly $2M from FY22. Women’s basketball hit nearly $1.44M in ticket revenue, “nearly double the program’s previous high” of $767,069 in FY22 (THE ATHLETIC, 1/29).
THE CLARK EFFECT: In Iowa, Richard Pratt wrote Iowa G Caitlin Cark is “becoming a household name, a personality recognized both inside and beyond the sports realm,” and that level of recognition is “translating into a level of marketing influence rarely seen among college athletes, male or female -- and among female athletes in general.” Iowa women’s basketball coach Lisa Bluder said Clark is “the face of basketball, men or women, right now in college. She’s the best player in America. If you go anywhere around the country where they know anything about basketball, they know who Caitlin Clark is.” Pratt noted Clark has NIL deals with Gatorade, State Farm, Nike Basketball, Bose, Des Moines-based business The Vinyl Studio, Hy-Vee, H&R Block, Buick, Goldman Sachs and Topps. But the “next question for fans” of Clark and women’s basketball is whether she will “turn pro after this season.” Pratt wondered if staying in college would “be of greater financial benefit to Ms. Clark than entering the WNBA.” Bluder said a lot of the deals Clark signed are “national deals that will probably go with her to the WNBA.” Bluder added the deals are “not just because she’s at Iowa,” but she does think the “exposure she gets from being at the university is going to be more than exposure she gets in the WNBA, which could raise her value for companies to stay in college” (CORRIDOR BUSINESS JOURNAL, 1/29).
