The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
A closer look at UConn athletics’ $42.3M deficit
The UConn athletic department has been operating at a significant deficit, subsidizing the financial gap with around $40 million of money from the school. There was a $42.2 million deficit in 2017 and a $41 million shortfall in 2018.
The department’s 2019 financial statement issued to the NCAA showed a $42.3 million deficit covered by institutional support and student fees.
The school cited a loss in money from ticket sales and a decrease in revenue from a renegotiated contract with media partner Learfield IMG College.
“The bottom-line figure is not a comprehensive illustration of the many ways in which UConn Athletics continues to work toward greater financial self-sufficiency over time,” the school said in a statement. “Reducing the athletic subsidy to a level that is in line with our peers remains our long-term goal, and one that helps shape our decision-making process every day. … As we have said in the past, the Division of Athletics is continually working to identify savings, drive up revenue, and address other factors within its control to help close this gap.”
UConn is moving to the Big East this year, a move that has been framed as an opportunity to boost revenue through media rights contracts, fundraising, and ticket sales.
For now, though, the athletic department is bleeding red ink. A look behind the numbers: $80.9 million — Total expenses of the athletic department in 2019, the same figure as 2018.
$42.3 million — The department’s budget deficit. The department’s revenue is derived from such items as ticket sales, contributions via fundraising, licensing deals, and distribution
from media rights, conference revenue, and NCAA revenue. The various revenue sources added up to about $38.6 million.
$33.5 million — Institutional support provided to offset the deficit. This is money that flows directly from the school’s budget to the athletic department. The direct institutional support was
$30.3 million in 2017 and $30.9 million in 2018. In 2010, it was $5.9 million.
$8.8 million — Student fees used to balance the deficit. The athletic department received $8.5 million from student fees in 2018 and $8.3 in each of the previous fiscal years. The payment was $10 million in 2015 and more than $9 million from 2012 to 2014.
$3,428 — The fee per student for in-state and out-of-state UConn students for the 2019-20 acaof
demic year.
$13,798/$36,466 — The in-state and out-of-state tuition at UConn for the 2019-20 academic year.
23.3 percent — The five-year tuition increase at UConn, approved by the Board of Trustees last month. Tuition will increase by 4.2 percent ($608) for the 2020-21 academic year, with incremental increases, reaching a $679 increase in 2024-25.
$13.3 million — The losses by the football program. The program generated $3.3 million in revenue, but expenses were $16.6 million.
2-10 — The football team’s record in 2019. The Huskies are 3-21 over the past two seasons — the program operated at a $22 million deficit over those two years — and are 9-39 over the past four seasons.
$7.33 million — School subsidy cost per football win over past two years.
$3.9 million — The losses by the men’s basketball program. The program pulled in $6 million in revenue with a budget $9.9 million.
$3.5 million — The losses by the women’s basketball program. Geno Auriemma’s program operated with an $8 million budget with $4.5 million in revenue.
$4.2 million — Revenue from the American
Athletic Conference. UConn is leaving the conference this summer and will join the Big East. The school has started paying a $17 million exit fee to the AAC and will pay $3.5 million to join the Big East.
$1.4 million —
Decrease
in revenue from ticket sales. The athletic department made $9.1 million in ticket sales in 2018. Last year, the program derived $7.7 million from tickets.