High Tide: Alabama's '12-13 Athletic Revenue Rises 16% From Previous Year

The Univ. of Alabama reported $143.4M in athletic revenue during '12-13, up 16% from a year earlier, marking the school's "largest revenue increase in three years," according to Jon Solomon of the BIRMINGHAM NEWS. In its annual Equity in Athletics Data Analysis (EADA) report filed this month to the U.S. Department of Education, Alabama listed a surplus of $21.1M "when not factoring in" $13.1M from debt-service payments. EADA does "not require debt service to be reported." It is "not clear yet where Alabama ranks nationally in athletic revenue." Meanwhile, Alabama's revenue has increased by 43% since '09, when it "won the first of three football national championships" under coach Nick Saban. The school in '12-13 listed spending of $18.5M on coaches' salaries and $11.1M "on athletically related student aid" -- a difference of $7.4M. That "gap" was $6.6M in Alabama's '11-12 EADA report (AL.com, 10/22).