A look behind UConn’s athletic finances

It has been a decade-long decline, sparked by the shift in college athletics and accelerated by UConn’s inability to land in a lucrative Power Five conference.

As expenses in big time college sports rose, revenue failed to keep pace and UConn found itself subsidizing sports. One year after another.

The result is a perennial shortfall, usually in the $40 million range. The latest financial report filed with the NCAA shows a $43.5 million revenue gap, bandaged through direct institutional support and student fees.

With the COVID-19 pandemic shutting down fall sports and stifling revenue streams, next year’s financial ledger could look worse.

What does it all mean? A look behind the numbers:

THE IMPACT OF COVID

The pandemic hit sports in March, just as winter postseason tournaments were starting. For the UConn basketball teams, there was a significant loss associated with the cancellation of both the American Athletic Conference men’s tournament and both NCAA Tournaments.

In 2019, the programs combined for more than $700,000 in revenue from NCAA payouts. With no tournament last spring, UConn received no revenue from the NCAA.

The men’s program saw a significant loss associated with the cancellation of the AAC tournament. The program received $1.6 million from the conference in 2019, but the revenue fell to just under $500,000 last year.

But the pandemic may have led to a cut in overall recruiting expenses. The department reported $1.8 million in recruiting expense in 2018-19 fiscal year, but that number fell to $1.4 million in the latest report.

Football ($339,340 in 2019-20, $499,866 in 2018-19) and men’s basketball ($369,445, $507,928) saw the sharpest changes.

Other factors could contribute to the reduction — the location of prime recruits can change from year to year — but reduction in the expense is noteworthy.

FILLING THE GAP

In recent years, UConn has been among the Division I leaders in using direct school support to balance its athletic budget.

The direct institutional support was $37 million last year, up from $33.5 million the year before. The figure has been over $30 million the past four years.

Student fees accounted for $6.5 million, the lowest in 13 years. The school used $8.8 million in student fees for the 2018-19 budget and has been perennially over $8 million for more than a decade.

In 2015, UConn used $10.2 million in student fees to close the gap. The last time the school used under $7 million in student fees was 2007 ($6.8 million).