Advertisement
other sports Edit

Athletic dept. revenues projected to rise to $112.73 million in FY 2016-17

The entry fee paid by South Carolina to join the SEC a quarter of a century ago continues to be one of the best bargains in the history of college sports.

A decade ago, USC athletics generated $60.54 million in revenues during the 2006-07 academic year.

That seems like pocket change today.

Gamecocks athletics director Ray Tanner presented the proposed Fiscal Year 2016-17 budget to the Intercollegiate Athletics Committee of the Board of Trustees on Friday, and the growth of the USC athletic department is impressive.

USC forecasts revenues of $112.73 million for FY 2016-17, a 6.38 percent increase from a year ago. Television, of course, is a major reason for USC’s skyrocketing revenues along with strong ticket sales, healthy fundraising, increasing numbers in the Gamecock Club and more lucrative sponsorship deals with Under Armour.

USC’s multi-media rights package is coming up for bid soon, so the Gamecocks could see an increase in that category in the future.

“We’ve had some opportunities to grow our revenue,” Tanner said shortly after the meeting with the Board.

Ten years ago, USC’s distribution from the SEC was $11.08 million. In FY 2016-17, USC expects to receive at least $36.67 million from the conference office.

Thank you, SEC Network.

“The SEC Network is very strong and fruitful,” Tanner said. “I anticipated from the beginning it was going to be a successful venture. How successful it has been in a short period of time has surprised a lot of people. It has been financially rewarding to the SEC’s member institutions. The viewership is tremendous.”

The SEC distribution – which promises to get even larger in future years as the SEC Network expands and the college football playoff grows - constitutes about 32.5 percent of USC’s proposed 2016-17 budget.

After the annual payment from the SEC office in Birmingham, ticket revenue ($22.69 million), Gamecock Club ($13.96 million), sponsorships and royalties ($12.96 million), gifts and donations ($10.63 million) and premium seat payments ($5.88 million) constitute the major sources of revenue for the Gamecocks.

The Gamecocks hope to sell between 50,000 and 54,000 football season tickets, Tanner said.

The new contracts with Under Armour and Founders Federal Credit Union should bring in an additional $2.5 million in sponsorship revenue.

While revenues are rising, so are costs, particularly in three areas – recruiting, football guarantees and debt service payments. Will Muschamp has always been an aggressive recruiter and has built a support staff to bolster USC’s efforts in that critical area in his first six months on the job as well as significantly increasing travel.

USC projects recruiting costs to jump 17.8 percent to over $1.5 million in FY 2016-17.

“Our new football coach has a very aggressive staff,’ Tanner said. “It’s more the mode of transportation than anything else. We’ve done more air travel than we’ve ever done before. We’re planning to make sure we can handle that going forward.

“Coach Muschamp is very aggressive in the recruiting world. He’s not going to miss an opportunity to recruit. One of the things he said to me during the (interview process) was ‘I’m in charge of recruiting and I recruit every day.’ It costs money to do that, which is great. We have to make sure we are able to accommodate what our football staff needs and where they go based on their first month here. We wanted to make sure our budget accommodates the travel that is necessary.”

Guarantees to three nonconference football opponents total $2.75 million. USC is paying the University of Massachusetts (moving to independent status in 2016) the staggering sum of $1.5 million for the Minutemen to travel to Williams-Brice Stadium for the Oct. 22 game, the third of five straight home games for the Gamecocks.

East Carolina receives $850,000 for the Sept. 17 home opener. Week 11 opponent Western Carolina takes home a check for $400,000.

“(Rapidly increasing guarantees) is a concern throughout the SEC and ACC and I’m sure other conferences,” Tanner said. “The guarantees you’re having to pay to get teams to come play non-conference games is very concerning. It’s where the market place is right now, but it is a high number.”

AS USC continues to upgrade facilities, debt service payments continue to rise. The Gamecocks borrowed $47 million in bonds to construct the new football operations building adjacent to the indoor practice facility located in the southwest parcel of Gamecock Park.

USC estimates debt service payments for FY 2016-17 will be $11.80 million. When construction of the football operations building begins in 2017, athletic department debt rises to $194.60 million.

“I’m adverse to debt, but it’s part of what we do,” Tanner said. “We’re not one of the leaders throughout the country in college athletics debt, but it’s important we continue to build facilities. The most important thing is being able to service it. We feel very good about our revenues. So, we can add projects and service the debt.”

Under state law, USC athletic department debt is capped at $200 million. Many schools in the SEC and ACC have no limit.

A portion of every football ticket sold ($8.00 per ticket; $3.5 million total) goes to payment of the debt.

Donations are helping to pay for the football operations building as well. Tanner predicts USC will have pledges totally nearly $15 million for the building by the fall.

Advertisement
Advertisement