On Wednesday night USA Today Sports released their annual report on athletic budgets and there were quite a few surprises on it’s list. Among those surprises was who clocked in at No. 2 in athletic department revenue — the University of Wisconsin.
Texas, the annual juggernaut in raising money for its own coffers, remained at No. 1 as it pulled in over $149 million in revenue in the 2012-13 year. Wisconsin wasn’t too far behind in the revenue department, pulling in just over $146 million itself.
It’s a major jump from the 2011-12 year, where Wisconsin ranked No. 11 in the country with over $103 million dollars in revenue. Additionally, the Badgers pulled in more profit this past season than in the year before. The difference between revenues and expenses was just under $3 million for the 2012-13 school year, while the previous year saw the Badgers’ difference come in at just over $1 million to the plus side.
UW not only increased it’s overall revenues by over $30 million dollars, it did the same with expenses too. In fact, not only did the Badgers jump up the revenue charts (No. 11 to No. 2), but the athletic department also jumped up the expenses chart too (No. 8 to No. 2). This is where things got interesting, as Texas continued to lead, but Wisconsin was just under $200,000 away from the Longhorns spending.
However, that isn’t the only big piece of news to come from this report. The other is that once again, the Big Ten is the money giant of Division I athletics. In 2011-12, the Big Ten put four teams over the $100 million mark — the most of any conference in the country. In the latest numbers, the Big Ten have five teams over the $100 million mark and have Minnesota creeping up the list with over $98 million in revenue during the 2012-13 year. That number tied with the SEC, who put Alabama, Florida, LSU, Tennessee and Auburn all over the $100 million mark.
Where things go off the rails for UW however is when you look at the difference between revenues and expenses. It’s nice to lead in revenues, and it’s also nice to know you are putting most of that back in to the well-being of the athletes — it’s also worrisome that Wisconsin is still behind its counterparts at the top of the Big Ten in profit.
Ohio State leads the pack with $26.2 million left over after expenses, with Michigan up next at $12.5 million.
The Rest of the Big Ten’s profitability:
Iowa: $1.8 million
Penn State: – $5.9 million (penalty payments to NCAA ate in to revenues to the tune of $20 million)
Minnesota: $1.8 million
Michigan State: $4.2 million
Nebraska: $5.2 million
Illinois: $1.1 million
Rutgers: $0
Indiana: $4.1 million
Purdue: – $1.2 million
Maryland: $346,541
Northwestern: N/A (does not disclose financials as a private institution)
Overall the picture didn’t change much, as the richest of the rich continued to outpace the rest of Division I athletic programs.
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