The 23 universities that make at least $125 million annually from their sports teams

[forkbeard3777]

LINK

Most of the universities were to be expected. Louisville was a little surprising, I guess.

 

[KyfightingIrish36]

LINK

Most of the universities were to be expected. Louisville was a little surprising, I guess.

Louisville has a lot of huge donors. They have some of the top notch facilities across all of their sports.

 

[forkbeard3777]

Louisville has a lot of huge donors. They have some of the top notch facilities across all of their sports.

Yeah, I just expected a different school — Nebraska, Clemson, Oregon, Washington, Virginia Tech, and such.

 

[ndfanatic78]

LINK

Most of the universities were to be expected. Louisville was a little surprising, I guess.

I don’t know if I trust those numbers. I would like to know what exactly is included to come to those totals. How are they not using merchandise sales.How are they determining “sponsorships”?

 

[Old Man Mike]

There was a time not very long ago when Louisville was one of only two schools raking in loads of positive profit BASKETBALL money.
Even the powerhouse BBallers were not making that much from their programs and the vast majority were in the red. But Louisville was a massive profit maker (this was about 20 years ago I believe.) So Louisville got THAT going way before anybody else.

 

[Rockin’Irish]

LINK

Most of the universities were to be expected. Louisville was a little surprising, I guess.

Good article, thanks for posting!

 

[IRISHDODGER]

There was a time not very long ago when Louisville was one of only two schools raking in loads of positive profit BASKETBALL money.
Even the powerhouse BBallers were not making that much from their programs and the vast majority were in the red. But Louisville was a massive profit maker (this was about 20 years ago I believe.) So Louisville got THAT going way before anybody else.

IIRC, UL was Division 1-AA back when Johnny U was slinging the rock there.

 

[Lberry]

Wisconsin and Arkansas surprised me.

 

[forkbeard3777]

Wisconsin and Arkansas surprised me.

Arkansas has a huge baseball and basketball following (both arguably second in the SEC). Their football support is alright…one of the weaker ones for SEC purposes, but still solid. They just haven’t been that good in a while.

 

[Armyirish47]

Arkansas has a huge baseball and basketball following (both arguably second in the SEC). Their football support is alright…one of the weaker ones for SEC purposes, but still solid. They just haven’t been that good in a while.

Track as well. And they have a chokehold on statewide support with pretty limited competition.

 

[Junkhead]

Michigan women's basketball brought in $426,000 million. lol

 

[ulukinatme]

Michigan women's basketball brought in $426,000 million. lol

WNBA, eat your heart out!
They're a middling B1G team that makes 1/4 what their peers make.

 

[laughingirish90]

some of these numbers can't be right because next to wbb revenue on scUM at 5th it says 426,000 million if i read it right.

 

[Giddyup]

Just go with it.

 

[IrishSteelhead]

Think there’s a lot of creative presentation to prop up women’s sports.

A report 2 years ago revealed that LSU baseball was the only non football or men’s basketball collegiate sport that turned a profit across every university.


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[Irish du Nord]

Track as well. And they have a chokehold on statewide support with pretty limited competition.

Are they bringing in big track money? Speaking as a track guy and top1% track enthusiast

 

[stlnd01]

Think there’s a lot of creative presentation to prop up women’s sports.

A report 2 years ago revealed that LSU baseball was the only non football or men’s basketball collegiate sport that turned a profit across every university.


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Do you have a link to that? I find it hard to believe that, say, UConn womens basketball is not profitable, probably a few other big-time womens programs too, if that data forkbeard posted is accurate and the major ones pull in $2M in revenue. Certain college hockey programs with big arenas and manageable travel costs probably make money too. What makes LSU baseball so special?

 

[forkbeard3777]

Do you have a link to that? I find it hard to believe that, say, UConn womens basketball is not profitable, probably a few other big-time womens programs too, if that data forkbeard posted is accurate and the major ones pull in $2M in revenue. Certain college hockey programs with big arenas and manageable travel costs probably make money too. What makes LSU baseball so special?

😂 Baseball is huge at LSU. In all seriousness, it is without a doubt, more important than the basketball program. Some fans, seriously, care more about the baseball program than the football program.

 

[stlnd01]

😂 Baseball is huge at LSU. In all seriousness, it is without a doubt, more important than the basketball program. Some fans, seriously, care more about the baseball program than the football program.

Sure. Like womens hoops is huge at UConn (bigger than the mens program probably). And a lot of big-time hockey schools are irrelevant in football/basketball but sell a lot of tickets to hockey games.

Of all those programs, I don't get why only LSU Baseball would be profitable.

 

[forkbeard3777]

Sure. Like womens hoops is huge at UConn (bigger than the mens program probably). And a lot of big-time hockey schools are irrelevant in football/basketball but sell a lot of tickets to hockey games.

Of all those programs, I don't get why only LSU Baseball would be profitable.

Who knows? LSU was always known as being self-sufficient in baseball. I'm sure a few other programs (Arkansas, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, South Carolina, Texas) are there as well. College baseball is huge in the SEC - just like I'm sure hockey is in Boston, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and such.

That said, TV revenue perhaps? I can always count on getting college baseball games every weekend through the SEC Network, ESPNU, ESPN/ESPN 2 (and I'm intentionally excluding Rice and Houston, which I get most of their games on local channels). The Regionals and Supers area also easily accessible. Unfortunately, other than the "Frozen 4," very rarely (unless it's some obscure Bally Sports or FS1 station) do I get college hockey. Also, isn't hockey widely known as one of the most expensive sports to play?

Regarding UConn, maybe someone can correct me here if I'm wrong, but I believe they rent out an arena in Hartford for half of their games. Maybe that eats into a sizable chunk of revenue?

 

[GowerND11]

IIRC, UL was Division 1-AA back when Johnny U was slinging the rock there.

There was no 1-AA back then. There was stuff like college and university division or something, but it was much more grey than today.

 

[NorthDakota]

Do you have a link to that? I find it hard to believe that, say, UConn womens basketball is not profitable, probably a few other big-time womens programs too, if that data forkbeard posted is accurate and the major ones pull in $2M in revenue. Certain college hockey programs with big arenas and manageable travel costs probably make money too. What makes LSU baseball so special?

I suspect North Dakota makes money on hockey. But they have a very peculiar arrangement with their (gorgeous) arena that takes half of their ticket sales for a few more years until the arena's ownership is transferred to the university.

 

[stlnd01]

Who knows? LSU was always known as being self-sufficient in baseball. I'm sure a few other programs (Arkansas, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, South Carolina, Texas) are there as well. College baseball is huge in the SEC - just like I'm sure hockey is in Boston, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and such.

That said, TV revenue perhaps? I can always count on getting college baseball games every weekend through the SEC Network, ESPNU, ESPN/ESPN 2 (and I'm intentionally excluding Rice and Houston, which I get most of their games on local channels). The Regionals and Supers area also easily accessible. Unfortunately, other than the "Frozen 4," very rarely (unless it's some obscure Bally Sports or FS1 station) do I get college hockey. Also, isn't hockey widely known as one of the most expensive sports to play?

Regarding UConn, maybe someone can correct me here if I'm wrong, but I believe they rent out an arena in Hartford for half of their games. Maybe that eats into a sizable chunk of revenue?

Yeah. I don’t know. I’d be curious to see the numbers.

I live in Boston and college hockey is a fairly big deal around here. First round of the Beanpot is tonight and you can’t get a ticket for less than $150. That’s at the Garden which seats nearly 20,000 people. Kind of a special event, but BC and BU, in particular, average probably 5K-7K per game in attendance at their large, on-campus arenas, and it is THE sport at the big state schools in Massachusetts and all points north, also most of the Ivies. Hockey East games are on NESN (regional cable and what the Red Sox and Bruins are on so it’s pretty well-subscribed) and sometimes lesser ESPN channels. I get why you can’t see it in Louisiana but then I’ve never really tried watching SEC regular season baseball up here.

As for costs, yes hockey’s an expensive sport to play, but most of the costs to run a college program are scholarships and staff and that would probably be comparable to baseball, as teams are about the same size. The leagues are geographically compact, at least in the northeast, so bus trips, and they tend to play two-game sets on Fri/Sat nights, so travel probably isn’t that bad? It was fun when Notre Dame was in Hockey East for a bit but that made no sense, travel-wise.

Anyway, like I said, I’d be curious what the numbers are. I just find it hard to believe that all these schools that really aren’t sports schools would run hockey programs if they weren’t at least self-sustaining.

 

[Wild Bill]

Think there’s a lot of creative presentation to prop up women’s sports.

A report 2 years ago revealed that LSU baseball was the only non football or men’s basketball collegiate sport that turned a profit across every university.


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I would be surprised if Iowa wresting didn't turn a profit, even if it's a small one.

 

[ulukinatme]

I would be surprised if Iowa wresting didn't turn a profit, even if it's a small one.

If there was a wrestling program that did it probably would be Iowa. Then again, we've been watching some meets on the B1G channel lately at the neighbor's house. The Iowa meet was rather tame considering how good they are, not a ton of people. The OSU vs. Michigan meet was fire though. They had WWE style entrances, packed house, and it had crazy energy. I get it's the biggest rivalry in college sports, but I was surprised how fun it was as a spectator and how different from the Iowa meet the next night.

 

[NorthDakota]

If there was a wrestling program that did it probably would be Iowa. Then again, we've been watching some meets on the B1G channel lately at the neighbor's house. The Iowa meet was rather tame considering how good they are, not a ton of people. The OSU vs. Michigan meet was fire though. They had WWE style entrances, packed house, and it had crazy energy. I get it's the biggest rivalry in college sports, but I was surprised how fun it was as a spectator and how different from the Iowa meet the next night.

Wrestling is going to be pretty tame outside of maybe one or two duals a year I would think. That was my experience in high school anyway.

 

[jprue24]

Sure. Like womens hoops is huge at UConn (bigger than the mens program probably). And a lot of big-time hockey schools are irrelevant in football/basketball but sell a lot of tickets to hockey games.

Of all those programs, I don't get why only LSU Baseball would be profitable.

As a deep lover of UConn's Men's basketball, I must push back.

UConn season opener sets attendance record

STORRS, Conn. (WTNH) — University of Connecticut’s men’s basketball fans broke a record Monday evening at the Gampel Pavilion. There were 10,299 people in attendance at the game, …

www.wtnh.com

 

[NorthDakota]

As a deep lover of UConn's Men's basketball, I must push back.

UConn season opener sets attendance record

STORRS, Conn. (WTNH) — University of Connecticut’s men’s basketball fans broke a record Monday evening at the Gampel Pavilion. There were 10,299 people in attendance at the game, …

www.wtnh.com

UCONN men have won five natties in the last 25 years. That's a huge deal considering where schools put their resources.

 

[jprue24]

Regarding UConn, maybe someone can correct me here if I'm wrong, but I believe they rent out an arena in Hartford for half of their games. Maybe that eats into a sizable chunk of revenue?

Basically. The men are split even, the women have one more on campus home game.

 

[jprue24]

UCONN men have won 4 natties this century. That's a huge deal considering where schools put their resources.

Nothing ever tops '99.

Edit....ok, 2014 was nuts with the Big East/NCAA Tourneys sweep, but '99 was the culmination of a decade of being the best team in the big east...it was like a three "team generations" build, the culmination of what Calhoun built at a regional sports school, taken over the top by a bowling ball with irrational confidence.