The Georgia Athletic Association BOD on Thursday "approved" a budget of $117.42M for FY '16, "an increase of nearly" $17.6M from FY '15, according to a front-page piece by Fletcher Page of the ATHENS BANNER-HERALD. The increase is mainly due to an $11M "increase from SEC distribution," and those numbers "are getting much larger." The athletic association "pledged an additional" $1M to the university, "separate from" the $4M gift already planned (ATHENS BANNER-HERALD, 5/22). In Atlanta, Phil Hudson noted the UGA BOD also "approved a two-year contract extension" for AD Greg McGarity, which "will go through June 30, 2019." Meanwhile, McGarity revealed that the "target date to begin construction" on the school's Indoor Athletic Facility is January. Further info and funding plans "are expected to be available" at the fall BOD meeting (BIZJOURNALS.com, 5/21). The Banner-Herald's Page tweeted McGarity's pay under the contract extension "increases to $575,000" annually and will increase to $650,000 by July '18 (TWITTER.com, 5/21).
MORE MONEY MATTERS: In Atlanta, Chip Towers noted the Indoor Athletic Facility "will be utilized by the baseball and track teams as well as football" and is "estimated to cost" about $30M. The BOD also "voted for a contract extension and raise" for basketball coach Mark Fox and "approved a $5 increase in football ticket prices." That will produce $2.3M "more in ticket revenue, which projects" at $24.9M for the next fiscal year. McGarity said that all other UGA sports bring in $1.3M. Fox under his "two-year contract extension" will now make $2M a year, which "represents a $300,000 increase." Meanwhile, Deputy AD Carla Williams said that the school will "take advantage of cost-of-attendance legislation to maximize food allowances in addition to supplementing scholarships financially" (AJC.com, 5/21).
