UConn Athletics closes out another year with $40M+ deficit of revenues to expenses

RF1 · Unread post by **RF1** » 5 years ago

Conn athletic department in 2018: generated $40 million in revenue, spent $81 million in expenses
https://www.courant.com/sports/hc-sp-uc ... story.html

The athletic department incurred $80,905,645 in expenses in 2018, down slightly from 2017, while generating $40,418,969 in revenue, also down from 2017. The school’s sports programs were once again heavily subsidized by the university, receiving more than $8.5 million in student fees and more than $30 million in additional institutional support.

The biggest individual team culprit of the UConn athletic department’s 2018 deficit was the school’s football program, which lost $8.7 million. Additionally, men’s basketball lost about $5 million, women’s basketball lost about $3.1 million and the rest of the school’s sports lost about $22.3 million among them.

In 2017, UConn’s athletic department overall incurred more than $83 million in expenses while generating about $41 million in revenues.

NYGFan_Section208 · Unread post by **NYGFan_Section208** » 5 years ago

RF1 wrote: ↑5 years ago Conn athletic department in 2018: generated $40 million in revenue, spent $81 million in expenses
https://www.courant.com/sports/hc-sp-uc ... story.html

The athletic department incurred $80,905,645 in expenses in 2018, down slightly from 2017, while generating $40,418,969 in revenue, also down from 2017. The school’s sports programs were once again heavily subsidized by the university, receiving more than $8.5 million in student fees and more than $30 million in additional institutional support.

The biggest individual team culprit of the UConn athletic department’s 2018 deficit was the school’s football program, which lost $8.7 million. Additionally, men’s basketball lost about $5 million, women’s basketball lost about $3.1 million and the rest of the school’s sports lost about $22.3 million among them.

In 2017, UConn’s athletic department overall incurred more than $83 million in expenses while generating about $41 million in revenues.

Anyone know what Rhody's comps are to this?

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 5 years ago

They can't keep losing that much for much longer....on their board they are saying that going P5 is their only hope...even if they were to start winning in football and basketball, that wouldn't close the gap that much.

What's surprising is that 3.1 million loss on women's BB....they have become a victim of their own success...people don't want to come to games that are blowouts in the 1st half. The AAC is a horrible women's BB conference.

rjsuperfly66 · Unread post by **rjsuperfly66** » 5 years ago

rambone 78 wrote: ↑5 years ago They can't keep losing that much for much longer....on their board they are saying that going P5 is their only hope...even if they were to start winning in football and basketball, that wouldn't close the gap that much.

It's all about the league distribution shares:

The ACC has the lowest P5 distribution at $26.6 million per the 14 full time teams. P12 teams earn $30.9 million, Big 12 teams earn $34.3 million, Big Ten schools $37 million, and SEC schools $40.9 million. These are also the numbers from the 16-17 season, and I know for fiscal year 2018 the Big Ten was expecting distributions north of $50 million, and I expect all conferences would hope for similar increases.

In 16-17, I believe UCONN made just over $8 million, but I believe that number includes the BE buyout figure. So last year, they probably were distributed what, $5 million? And all the other conferences are increasing dramatically? There is most of your deficit.

RF1 · Unread post by **RF1** » 5 years ago

I found a 1.5 year old article about athletics spending in New England. It is a bit dated as figures are for the year 2015-16 but still gives you a general idea of spending.

University of Rhode Island
School funding ($20.8 million) makes up most of URI’s revenues. It spent $9.62 million on coaches in 2016 and $8.6 million in scholarships. In all, URI athletics makes $26.63 million in revenue and spends $26.17 million.

Link:
https://www.masslive.com/umass/2017/07/ ... g_see.html

Other New England publics (note all, unlike URI, have D1 Hockey):

UConn (FBS football)
generating $79,229,275 in revenue vs. $79,211,704 in expenses

UMass (FBS football)
It generated $42,350,911 in revenue versus $42,792,280

UNH (FCS football)
UNH made $29.17 million last season compared to its $28.9 million in expenses.

Maine (FCS football)
The Black Bears made $20.96 million last year and spent $20.88 million.

Vermont (no Football)
Its athletic department made $19.71 million last season while spending $20.69 million

Rhody83 · Unread post by **Rhody83** » 5 years ago

Imagine if they had paid Ollie the $10 million they owe him.
The article stated that they had a huge shortfall in 2017 also ($36 million short vs the $40 million short in 2018).

SmartyBarrett · Unread post by **SmartyBarrett** » 5 years ago

This gives a lot more insight into why they're not willing to pay Ollie what he's owed.

RF1 · Unread post by **RF1** » 5 years ago

SmartyBarrett wrote: ↑5 years ago This gives a lot more insight into why they're not willing to pay Ollie what he's owed.

Yes, it does. UConn, without Ollie's payout, is already subsidizing ($40M) its athletics program by some additional $20M/yr than URI ($21M). UConn's total subsidy to athletics alone is in fact approximately $15M more than what URI in total spends.

Seawrightspostgame · Unread post by **Seawrightspostgame** » 5 years ago

https://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Dai ... UConn.aspx

Well 1-4 to kick off the conference play. Maybe the Green Wave move the needle and get this program back on its feet.

I wonder when they throw in the towel.

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 5 years ago

Why UConn Should Probably Drop to FCS and Leave the AAC

Hard to argue with this.

RF1 · Unread post by **RF1** » 5 years ago

UConn AD won't rule out cutting some sports amid $40M budget gap
http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basket ... ome-sports

RhowdyRam02 · Unread post by **RhowdyRam02** » 5 years ago

TruePoint wrote: ↑5 years ago Why UConn Should Probably Drop to FCS and Leave the AAC

Hard to argue with this.

It could make sense if the Big East guaranteed them reentry, but one thing this article doesn't talk about is the stadium situation. Playing FCS games 22 miles from campus in a 45000 seat stadium is not a winning plan and they clearly don't have the money to build an FCS appropriate stadium

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 5 years ago

That stadium is by far the best thing about that program. Great place to watch a game...and the beer stands are plentiful, and it's not too expensive [yet].

Shame if they have to abandon it....but unless they join a P5 conference they are in too deep.

Rhody83 · Unread post by **Rhody83** » 5 years ago

Football lost $8.7 million and Mens Basketball lost $5 million last year. UConn is still getting payments from the Big East. That ends this year so you would think the losses are going to get worse. I would guess Hurley asked for more expenses (support staff etc) not less. They spend all their money on Football, Men Basketball & Womens Basketball (lost $3 million). They wccountec for $16.7 million of the shortfall.

Rhody83 · Unread post by **Rhody83** » 5 years ago

UConn will lose another $5 million in revenue in 2019 because the exit fees from the Big East end. They also lost $3 million/year in their media rights deal with IMG starting July 2018 (fiscal year 2018-19). IMG was paying $9 million per year but was losing money since UConn’s move to the AAC. The new IMG contract is for $6 million per year. The AAC’s TV contract runs through 2020 so there isn’t any short term potential for additional revenue. In the end it seems that UConn’s short term solution is significant expense cuts.

RF1 · Unread post by **RF1** » 5 years ago

UConn is operating its athletics programs as if it is a P5 program. Problem is it is a member of the G5. It spends heavy on many sports with the travel required in the AAC a burden. As the level which UConn was once at (near the end of the old BE) fell, it did not adapt accordingly. Instead of trimming expenses, it actually upgraded hockey to HE and added even more costs. Making matters worse for the school, the performance of its two big revenue teams (MB & Football) dramatically fell off decreasing revenues at the same time expenses were rising. Even the super successful women's team lost 3M and there is probably not much more it can do to improve on that.

UConn cannot continue to sustain its current model for long. While it still hopes for a P5 invite, the odds are getting slimmer than they were five years ago. P5 leagues are mostly about football and Huskies football is far from being attractive. The only action short of a P5 invite with a huge infusion of media rights cash, is to trim all its budgets.

rjsuperfly66 · Unread post by **rjsuperfly66** » 5 years ago

Rhody83 wrote: ↑5 years ago The AAC’s TV contract runs through 2020 so there isn’t any short term potential for additional revenue. In the end it seems that UConn’s short term solution is significant expense cuts.

UCONN seems to really be banking on a new TV contract to help bridge some of the deficit. With the conference currently being paid $20 million by ESPN, does anyone see ESPN paying much more for AAC content? Best case, maybe double, but what does that really accomplish?

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 5 years ago

An increase in the TV payouts would be a drop in the bucket, like RJ just said.

UConn spends way too much on its sports programs also like RF1 said.

Since they aren't likely to join a P5 conference anytime soon, their only recourse is to cut cut cut.

Also even if both football and BB improve, not going to close the gap much.

They're basically screwed.

RF1 · Unread post by **RF1** » 5 years ago

Few schools outside the P5 are likely to break even on athletics, especially if they have football. Most programs do not generate any significant revenues and mainly are expense driven paid via a school subsidy. The question comes down to how much can a school afford to subsidize athletics. URI provides approximately $20M to do so. UConn is presently subsidizing its sports in excess of $40M and this is thought to be unsustainable. While UMass spends far less than UConn on athletics , its subsidy is also very high as it is estimated to be in the mid to upper $30M range as its revenue streams are not all that significant.

Rhody83 · Unread post by **Rhody83** » 5 years ago

UConn is really in trouble. This article suggest that the State of CT forgive the rent it charges for the state owned football stadium and XL Center in Hartord (basketball). That is nothing more than a subsidy. On top of his suggested $20 million/year ongoing subsidy.

Seawrightspostgame · Unread post by **Seawrightspostgame** » 5 years ago

Sounds like a plan. They make all the right moves in Storrs Ct.

Ramulous · Unread post by **Ramulous** » 5 years ago

To run a surplus or break even they have to drop football entirely and beg to get back in the big east.....

rhodyruckus · Unread post by **rhodyruckus** » 5 years ago

"De Nile" is not just a river. The second point in the article for the argument to not drop down in football is laughable: if "UConn wants any shot at joining a Power 5 conference." Ahahaha. Sure let's wait 10-20 years and lose $9 million per year to the tune of $100 million + total in the HOPES that some P5 conference has to settle for you in the next round of realignment.

RF1 · Unread post by **RF1** » 5 years ago

Ramulous wrote: ↑5 years ago To run a surplus or break even they have to drop football entirely and beg to get back in the big east.....

UConn does not have to break even. Few schools actually have athletic departments that do. UConn just has to have a manageable deficit. Most all collegiate athletic teams (ALL sports) make no money. They exist to provide student athletes the opportunity to play sports they love in the name of their school. They are there to provide intangibles they would not get in a classroom and add to the college experience.

If the goal is to have an athletic department that makes money, then URI (which has a 20M deficit) and over 1000 NCAA schools across all levels would no longer field teams.

RF1 · Unread post by **RF1** » 4 years ago

The financial numbers are in for 2019 and the athletics dept deficit at UConn was even worse than the previous year. The department loss for 2019 was $42M, some $2M more than in 2018.

UConn athletic department lost $42 million in 2019 after decline in ticket sales and league revenue
https://www.courant.com/sports/hc-sp-uc ... story.html

Football, which suffered the biggest hit from the decline in conference revenue, was once again UConn’s most costly program in 2019, with $16.6 in reported expenses against $3.3 in revenue. Men’s basketball cost $9.9 million and generated $6 million, while women’s basketball cost $8 million and generated $4.5 million. The remaining sports together cost $25.8 million and generated $2.8 million.

The athletic department’s largest categories of revenue were “royalties, licensing, advertising and sponsorships” ($11.2 million) and ticket sales ($7.7 million), while it’s largest expenses were coaching salaries ($18 million) and athletic student aid ($17.7 million).

2019 Loss by UConn Sports Program
Football $13.3M
MBB $3.9M
WBB $3.5M
All Other $23M

reef · Unread post by **reef** » 4 years ago

Wil there be any consequences due to this ????

NYGFan_Section208 · Unread post by **NYGFan_Section208** » 4 years ago

reef wrote: ↑4 years ago Wil there be any consequences due to this ????

No. Cap moves to negative $44M next year...

RF1 · Unread post by **RF1** » 4 years ago

reef wrote: ↑4 years ago Wil there be any consequences due to this ????

This is the third straight year of losing $40M or more. There has not seemed to be many consequences after the other years. Football losses have actually risen. Would expect football revenues to suffer even more with no conference affiliation. Would think the program needs to dramatically slash expenses but have not read of such a plan.

RF1 · Unread post by **RF1** » 1 year ago

UConn reports that its athletic dept recorded a deficit of $53M in 2022. It has been steadily climbing in the last several years as it was $43.5M in 2020 and $47.2M in 2021.

UConn athletics deficit climbed to $53 million in '22
https://www.yahoo.com/now/uconn-athleti ... 54138.html

UConn athletics having success on the field, but are financials sustainable?
https://www.yahoo.com/now/uconn-athleti ... 00557.html

RF1 · Unread post by **RF1** » 1 year ago

For those keeping score at home:

UCONN ATHLETIC DEPT DEFICITS
2018 $40M
2019 $42M
2020 $43.5M
2021 $47.2M
2022 $53M

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