Football ticket prices for Power Five games will increase to $75 in '18, up from $50 in '17GETTY IMAGES
The Univ. of Georgia Athletic Association Board "unanimously approved" a budget of more than $143M for FY '19, the largest in the association's history, according to a front-page piece by Ryne Dennis of the ATHENS BANNER-HERALD. Due to an "increase in football ticket revenue and an increase in gifts to the Hartman Fund, the budget will increase" by nearly $16M from FY '18. Projected operating expenses also increased by $14.2M, the biggest coming because of $6.3M "added to compensation for coaches, including a new contract" for football coach Kirby Smart and new basketball coach Tom Crean. Coming off UGA's first SEC Championship since '05 and its first trip to the CFP championship, the athletic department "increased ticket prices to $75 for Power Five games and $55 for non-Power Five opponents." All tickets "were $50 last season." Due to the increase, "proposed ticket revenue will top" $33M, an increase of $10.5M from FY '18. The school will receive $41.3M in SEC distribution, "an increase of $700,000" from FY '18. UGA AD Greg McGarity on Friday said that revenue gained through sales of licensed products is "split 50-50 between the athletic association and the university" (ATHENS BANNER-HERALD, 5/26). In Atlanta, Chip Towers noted several members of the BOD asked McGarity if there were "any concerns that the lucrative revenue stream that has been provided the SEC in recent years due to its network arrangement with ESPN might regress in the future." It has been "well publicized that the television behemoth ... has been experiencing financial trouble in recent years." McGarity: "Our revenue stream will continue to grow. Whether they're consuming the products from Hulu or whatever, the content is still being distributed and ESPN is retaining the rights for that" (ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, 5/26).
