Univ. of Georgia has spent $175M on new construction projects dedicated to the support of footballJOSHUA JONES/USA TODAY NETWORK
The Univ. of Georgia’s athletic board will "be asked to approve" the budget for FY '23 next week that will "include projected increased revenues of just under eight percent," according to Marc Weiszer of the ATHENS BANNER-HERALD. That would "be approximately" $162M total, up from $150.3M in FY '22. No figures for projected expenses were specified, but the school is "including funding for an academic achievement award for all athletes, roughly 500 total." UGA said that its projected increased revenues come from the "neutral site football game vs. Oregon in Atlanta (with a $5 million payout) and a 'small uptick,' in football season ticket contributions 'due to the excitement of the football season,' after winning the national championship." The SEC distribution also is "projected to increase," as the conference distributed an average of $54.6M per school in FY '20-21, according to the league. That does not include the "one-time supplement" of about $23M each school received in '21. UGA Deputy AD/Finance Stephanie Ransom said that UGA is "budgeting expenses about back to normal for team travel, operations and recruiting after last year’s budget 'was conservative based on uncertainty of COVID-19'" (ATHENS BANNER-HERALD, 5/18).
SUPPORTING FOOTBALL: In Atlanta, Chip Towers notes UGA yesterday held a "dedication ceremony" for their recently completed $80M expansion of the Butts-Mehre football complex. The new 164,000-square-foot football operations addition features a "state of the art locker room with custom-built lockers." There also is a "210-seat team meeting room and over-sized position group rooms, all outfitted with the latest digital video presentation." The "crown jewel" is a "24,000-square foot weight room." Its size "isn’t arbitrary," as UGA’s goal was "to have the largest in the country, and now it does." The operations facility was "just the latest" in $175M worth of "new construction projects dedicated to the support of football" (ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, 5/18).
