 "Photo: Mike Paschal/The Daily Texan")
Texas is used to being the best in many of its athletic programs, but a new No. 1 ranking may be a little sweeter for those in the Longhorns’ athletic department.
The SportsBusiness Journal reported that Longhorn athletics earned $120 million in 2007-08, raking in the most money out of any program in the country. Texas football played a significant factor in the revenue building, bringing in $74 million, another first-place earner.
Rounding out the top five athletic programs were Ohio State ($117 million), Florida ($106 million), Michigan ($99 million) and Wisconsin ($93 million).
To no surprise, institutions with strong football programs and high-capacity stadiums were at the top of the list.
But with the economic recession that began last fall, some programs are cutting back.
There have been no significant impacts on Longhorn athletics, but Texas Athletic Director DeLoss Dodds is still being cautious.
“We’re not going to do anything that will impact our student-athletes or fans,” Dodds said.
Some schools have already been impacted. Washington axed its men’s and women’s swimming teams this spring to save money, and other Pac-10 schools said they are looking to trim their programs.
In comparison, Texas is good shape. Dodds said the department is not looking into taking away scholarships or cutting any of the school’s teams.
Instead, Dodds has been looking to save money elsewhere by monitoring utilities such as the cooling and heating in athletic facilities, which can be regulated to lower costs.
“We’ve cut expenses by half a million,” Dodds said.
Longhorn fans won’t feel the change in expenses through higher ticket or concession prices, he said.
When Dodds took his position in fall of 1981, he had an economic model in mind that would concentrate on fewer varsity sports in the athletic department. The foundation he set 28 years ago puts Texas in a better position than most schools to ride out the effects of the recession.
Texas will see an increase in its revenue from the completion of their north end-zone renovation at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, which opened last football season. More seats leads to more fans, which turns into more money, Dodds said.
“We did them at the right time,” Dodds said about the stadium. “We’re in great shape.”
From new suites to advertisements on the “Godzillatron,” Texas is a great sanctuary for student-athletes and fans.
While Texas had the highest-ranked football team among the highest-earning athletic programs last year, it’s also the biggest spender out of any program. Texas had $100 million in overall expenses in 2008, 20 percent of which went toward football.
But DeLoss said the athletic department makes a large amount of money for the city of Austin through postseason events such as the NCAA Austin Baseball regional, Super Regional, and Men’s Golf Central Regional.
“Hosting these events is good for the economy, bringing visitors from all over the country to stay in our hotels, eat in our restaurants and shop in our stores,” Dodds said.
It certainly helps when the city of Austin is one of the country’s best-suited to weather the recession, according to Forbes magazine.
State-of-the-art facilities and top-notch coaches have made Texas athletics one of the most profitable programs in the country. But that doesn’t mean Dodds isn’t worried about the economic slowdown.
“I don’t know the future,” Dodds said. “I worry about the future.”
Texas athletics by the numbers
$173 million
Amount of money Texas athletics was estimated to have pumped into the Austin-area economy during the last school year, according to a study done by a St. Louis-based statistical analysis firm, SportsImpacts.
$120.3 million
Amount the Longhorn athletic department generated in 2007-08, the most in the country.
$89 million
Total visitor spending generated by UT athletics in 2001, the last time a study was
conducted.
$74 million
Total earnings of the Texas football team, or 62% of the athletic department’s gross
revenue.
$20.17 million
Difference between the top-earning football team last school year, Texas, and No. 10 LSU.
$2.3 million
Difference in income between Texas athletics and the No. 2 earner, Ohio State University.
98,053
Record-setting number of fans that turned out to watch UT beat Florida Atlantic in 2008’s season opener.
$2,535
2007-08 gross revenue of the Longhorn athletic department per students enrolled at Texas that school year.
3
Total number of athletic departments with $100,000+ yearly earnings in 2007-08.
Source: Sports Business Journal
5 comments
I responded that, using the logic of LSU '74, if a cow was white, and a house was white, the cow must, therefore, be a house. However, both comments disappeared from existence. Could it have been my use of the word wetback to replace the word illegals? Only in America...
I responded that, using the logic of LSU '74, if a cow was white, and a house was white, the cow must, therefore, be a house. However, both comments disappeared from existence. Could it have been my use of the word wetback to replace the word illegals? Only in America...