Menu
Colleges

UCLA's Lavish Football Spending Questioned Amid Dept. Losses

Costs associated with UCLA football has increased significantly under Chip KellyGETTY IMAGES

UCLA football coach Chip Kelly has "more than doubled the previous food budget" since his arrival in '17, spending $2.4M on non-travel meals in '18 and $5.4M in '19, "raising questions" about a UCLA athletic department that reported an $18.9M deficit last year, according to Ben Bolch of the L.A. TIMES. UCLA football has, on occasion, "ordered hundreds of peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches from a Los Angeles caterer at $4.95 each." Kelly also started "regularly catering breakfast, lunch and dinner for his players, who also received prepared meals to take home on weekends." One frequently used caterer "charged $15.99 each for such to-go meals." But "none of this increased spending has translated into success on the field." The Bruins have gone 7-17 under Kelly and attendance at the Rose Bowl has "declined steadily, hitting a low of 43,849" in '19. At the same time, "ticket revenue has dipped" from $19.8M in '15 to $12.5M last season. Bolch notes some of UCLA's "budget strain" relates to almost $15M in "severance costs" after firing football coach Jim Mora in '17 and men’s basketball coach Steve Alford in '18. But expenses also include a "significant investment in football," with the budget increasing from $27.3M in '17, Mora’s last full year, to $35.4M under Kelly in '19. Even "powerhouses" such as Ohio State ($3.4M), Georgia ($1.5M) and defending national champion LSU ($381,000) "didn’t come close to the Bruins’ total" (L.A.TIMES, 10/27). 

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 18, 2024

Sports Business Awards nominees unveiled; NWSL's historic opening weekend and takeaways from CFP deal

ESPN’s Jay Bilas, BTN’s Meghan McKeown, and a deep dive into AppleTV+’s The Dynasty

On this week’s Sports Media Podcast from the New York Post and Sports Business Journal, ESPN’s Jay Bilas talks all things NCAA. Big Ten Network’s Meghan McKeown shares her insight into the Caitlin Clark craze. The Boston Globe’s Chad Finn chats all things Bean Town. And SBJ’s Xavier Hunter drops in to share his findings on how the NWSL is making a social media push.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2020/10/27/Colleges/UCLA.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2020/10/27/Colleges/UCLA.aspx

CLOSE