Texas football went 10-4 and won the Sugar Bowl in '18-19, so it was no surprise that ticket sales were upGETTY IMAGES
The Univ. of Texas had "another school record-setting fiscal year" by generating $223.9M in revenue in FY '18-19, according to Brian Davis of the AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN. UT saw a "downdraft in expenses, too." With former football coach Charlie Strong's buyout "off the books," UT spent $204.2M. UT "generated a net profit" of $16,451,737 during FY '18-19. During the '18-19 athletic year, UT went 10-4 and won the Sugar Bowl, so it was "no surprise ... that football ticket sales were up" to $42.5M over the previous year's $38.5M. UT got $20.4M in media-rights payments, a figure "largely built" on $15M from the Longhorn Network. Men's basketball and baseball are the "only other net profitable sports, as has been the case for years." Men's basketball had a net profit of $5.3M; baseball was $1.6M. Overall, UT took in $48.3M in donations and $47M in licensing and royalties (AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 1/26).
TIGER TOWN: In Baton Rouge, Brooks Kubena noted LSU's overall athletic revenue rose to $157.8M, an increase of nearly $12.4M from the previous year. The department spent about $149M, a "boost" of about $11.5M from '17-18. LSU football, men's basketball and baseball were the "only sports to turn a profit" in the '18-19 academic year. In '18, LSU football won 10 games, including the Fiesta Bowl, leading to an "increase in the football program's massive profit margin." LSU football "made a profit" of about $56.6M in the '18-19 academic year, an increase of nearly $1.5M from '17-18. LSU football pulled in about $92M in revenue. It spent $35.3M, with coaching salaries "topping out the highest expense" with a total of about $12.4M. Men's basketball also yielded an "increased profit margin," nearly doubling from $292,921 in '17-18 to $453,022. The $9.5M spent on the sport was "higher than any other sport other than football at LSU." The school had one of the "few baseball programs nationally to turn an annual profit," making $464,109 in '19 (Baton Rouge ADVOCATE, 1/25).
HOOSIER NATION: In Bloomington, Jon Blau noted for the third year in a row, Indiana's athletic department "surpassed revenues" of $100M, hitting a "new record" of $127.8M for FY '19. But expenses "shrunk" by nearly $1.5M from '18, from just under $116.3M to $114.8M. On the surface, that created a $13M surplus. IU AD Fred Glass "cautions that the department's reported revenues and expenditures ... doesn't equate to an actual excess of cash on hand." That money "will be spent on existing debt obligations related to facility improvements." Glass said, "In essence, there is no surplus. We're pretty much spending all the revenue and the resources we accumulate." Blau noted men's basketball ticket sales "continued to outpace football," $11.2M to $6.8M, which "continues the Hoosiers' outlier status in the Big Ten" (Bloomington HERALD-TIMES, 1/24).
CARDINAL CHAOS? In Louisville, Tim Sullivan noted "accounting practices and a pair of uncommon expenses help explain" the $11.2M deficit Louisville athletics reported. Former UL football coach Bobby Petrino and former Papa John's CEO John Schnatter are "being paid off over a period of years." UL is "counting the full cost" of Petrino's $14M buyout and Schnatter's $9.5M naming rights settlement in its FY '18-19. As a result, UL has reported its "first deficit since a new set of NCAA reporting guidelines took effect" for FY '04-05. Since most of UL's obligations to Petrino and Schnatter "have yet to come due, their impact on day-to-day operations has been somewhat muted." What appears on the balance sheet as a "big loss is probably not all that big a deal" (Louisville COURIER JOURNAL, 1/25).
