Report: Tiger ticket sales still behind PRE-COVID numbers

Revenue generated by the Memphis athletic department bounced back from the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, but didn't reach pre-pandemic levels from 2019-20 due to a drop in ticket sales, the university reported in its latest financial filings with the NCAA.

The athletic department brought in under $62.2 million in revenue during the 2021-22 fiscal year, according to documents obtained by The Commercial Appeal. However, attendance was down for both football and men's basketball as Memphis brought in $10.3 million in revenue from those sports, down from $12.7 million in 2019-20.

While the total revenue is the highest generated in program history, it was boosted by $4.7 million in direct institutional support to pay the remaining buyout for former men's basketball coach Tubby Smith.

Smith was fired in 2018 after two seasons and was owed nearly $10 million for the rest of his contract. He had been paid a total of $5 million from yearly payments over the past three seasons. But Memphis senior associate athletic director for finance Andrew Roberts confirmed that Smith received the remainder of his buyout in 2021.

Take away that support and the Tigers' athletic department generated around $57.5 million, fewer than the $61.2 million it brought in during the 2019-20 fiscal year.

Change in revenue

The direct institutional support allowed Memphis to break even after turning a profit in five of the last seven years. However, football and men's basketball revenue declined from the last season not primarily affected by the pandemic.

Men's basketball revenue jumped from $1.17 million in 2020-21 to $10.6 million in 2021-22. But without the $4.7 million in institutional support, that number falls to $5.9 million, which is lower than Penny Hardaway's first two seasons as coach. Tiger basketball pulled in $6.7 million in 2018-19 and $6.86 million in 2019-20.

Men's basketball ticket sales brought in $4.6 million last year when the Tigers made the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2014. That's lower than the $5.5 and $5.8 million it generated in 2018-19 and 2019-20, respectively.

Football revenue rose from $2.25 million to $7.25 million but fell well short of the $13.5 in revenue from 201920 when the team won its first outright

AAC championship and played in the Cotton Bowl.

Roberts said football ticket sales compared more favorably to the 2018-19 fiscal year when Memphis earned under $10.8 million from tickets. Another factor in sales increasing from 2020-21 came from fans in 2020 deferring funds for paid tickets and donations to the 2122 season as part of the Keep Memphis Roaring campaign when the COVID-19 pandemic limited fan attendance.

“Those deferrals were appropriately recognized in 2021-22 when fans received the benefit of their payments,” Roberts said.

Ticket sales in 2019-20, he added, rose because Memphis football had its highest average announced attendance in four years, including a sell-out crowd against SMU in conjunction with ESPN’S “College Gameday.” Football ticket sales reached $6.8 million that year. That figure dropped to $5.4 million in 2021-22 despite a season-high announced crowd of 43,461 against Mississippi State on Sep. 18, 2021.

Memphis men’s basketball had an average turnstile attendance count of 6,483 in 21-22, less than double the announced attendance of 13,685, which reflects tickets sold, donated or given away. The turnstile attendance is down considerably from 2018-19 when the Tigers reported an average turnstile attendance of 8,813 in Hardaway’s first season.

Memphis football could also face a decline in ticket sales for 2022-23 as the average announced attendance last season fell to 26,196, a decline of just under 16.3% from the previous season’s average of 31,295.

Support staff, athletic debt increases

Support staff payments increased from $6.5 million in 2020-21 to $7.8 million in 2021-22. That’s attributed to Memphis hiring more staff to return to pre-pandemic employment levels with some new additions.

Nineteen full-time employees were laid off in October 2020. With revenue back up, Roberts noted the department added positions to mainly help support its athletes. The Tigers hired a full-time nutritionist, additional full-time sports medicine and sports performance staff, and Bridget Perine, the school’s first student-athlete branding and image coordinator to assist with name, image and likeness.

“This effort played out over several months and has continued into the current fiscal year, notably including the addition of two full-time mental health performance staff,” Roberts said.

Athletic facilities debt services, leases and rental fees increased to just over $4.05 million from $2.3 million. According to Roberts, rental charges at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium and Fedexforum “increased to normal levels inclusive of any contractual rate increases” after those fees were impacted by the pandemic.

Memphis also added financing for renovations to its baseball stadium at Fedexpark, which will be completed this year, along with enhancements to Elma Roane Fieldhouse.