Bulldogs propose record budget

$173.6M blueprint up 7% over last year.

The UGA Athletic AssoATHENS— ciation’s finance committee on Monday voted to submit a record $173.6 million budget to the board of directors for approval at the

end-of-year meeting next week. The fiscal year 2024 operating budget that was submitted represented a 7% increase over last year. That’s due primarily to significant boosts in ticket and donation revenue “due to higher giving levels due to the recent success

of the football team,” Stephanie Ransom, UGA Athletics’ deputy athletic director for finance, said in her presentation to the committee during a video conference call Monday. “… We are also proposing an increase in the premium seating sections driven by contributions associated with the new press club coming online for Season ’24.”

UGA is in the first phase of a two-phase renovation plan at Sanford Stadium that will convert the Dan Magill Press Box on the south side club level into a premium seating section for donors. That construction project, to be completed after the 2024 season, is expected to cost at least $63 million.

Meanwhile, Georgia will have seven home football games in 2023 rather than the usual six. The Bulldogs had to give up a long-scheduled road game against Oklahoma due to the Sooners (and Texas) joining the SEC in 2024.

That actually resulted in a slight decrease in ticket revenue for the Bulldogs because they are having to pay higher guarantees for nonconference opponents, Ran

som told the committee. UGA will host Ut-martin, Ball State, UAB

and Georgia Tech in out-of-conference games this fall. Georgia is paying $3.9 million to three

of those opponents. It does not pay Tech because of their annual home-and-home arrangement.

Georgia also will not be participating in any early-season guarantee games at neutral sites this fall. The Bulldogs made more than $5 million playing Oregon in the Chick-fil-a Kickoff game in Mercedes-benz Stadium last September. They received a similar payout when they played Clemson in the Duke’s Mayo Classic to start the 2021 season.

UGA also expects to bring in about $2 million more for sponsorships, licensing and product endorsements in the coming year. That also is driven by having a seventh home football game, the overall success of the football program (back-to-back national championships) and a “new revenue-guarantee model” with UGA’S secondary ticket market provider, Stubhub.

The new budget also proposes a 40% increase in men’s basketball revenue. “This is a reflection of the interest and enthusiasm for our men’s basketball program,” Ransom said. “So we’re looking forward to next season.”

The men’s team went 16-16 in coach Mike White’s first year and just closed on a recruiting class that ranks No. 2 in the SEC, according to On3.com.

UGA will not necessarily make more money in 2024, Ransom said. Without sharing specifics with the committee, she said the Bulldogs’ expenses are expected to increase significantly in the coming academic year. UGA expects to spend more on travel, food, utilities and maintenance.

“We’ve been impacted just like everybody else by inflation,” Ramsom said.

Accordingly, UGA is providing a cost-of-living salary adjustment for all employees and is adjusting staff benefits, which were up more than $1 million during the current year, Ransom reported. The Athletic Association also will donate $4.5 million to the university, which it has done annually for many years.

UGA already has executed significant raises for members of the football coaching staff. Meanwhile, negotiations are in the works to adjust head coach Kirby Smart’s contract. It was less than a year ago that Georgia made him the highest-paid coach in college football with a 10-year, $112.5 million deal. Smart’s salary has since been surpassed by Alabama’s Nick Saban and Clemson’s Dabo Swinney, and possibly other coaches.

UGA has to come up with the money to do that and remain on the positive side of its ledger.

“This was a tough budgetary development cycle with cost increases across the board,” Ransom told the committee. “But you’ll find that (the budget) is balanced.”

“There were a lot of inflationary pressures that we’re facing on the university side, with health insurance, with utilities,” added Ryan Nesbit, UGA’S vice president for finance and administration and treasurer for the athletic board. “In all those things, we’re just seeing unprecedented increases and cost pressures. So, a lot of great work and some creative thought went into creating this budget for FY ’24.”

The motion to present the budget to the full board was unanimously approved by the committee. The group will meet at its annual end-of-year meeting and retreat on May 25 at the Ritz Carlton Lodge on Lake Oconee.