A Peek Inside The Budget of BYU's Athletic Department

BYU doesn't typically disclose anything about their finances.  In fact, about the only thing they disclose about their athletic department budget is a pie chart showing the percentage of operating revenue that comes from various sources.  It shows the following revenue sources:

• Football Ticket Sales - 23%
• Tuition Allocation - 21%
• Donations & Endowments - 16%
• Corporate Sponsors - 9%
• Sports Camps - 8%
• Conference/NCAA - 7%
• Basketball Ticket Sales - 6%
• Other - 5%
• TV & Radio - 4%
• Ticket Sales (Other) - 1%

It is the 7% that comes from the conference and NCAA that is especially interesting because those numbers are public (if you do a little digging).  It turns out that the BYU athletic department received $1,485,373 from the Mountain West Conference and the NCAA during this period.  With a little math, it's easy to calculate that BYU's athletic budget is between $20 Million and $22.8 Million (accounting for potential rounding around the 7% figure).  Let's say BYU's athletic budget is approximately $22 Million.

How does this compare with other schools?  A few points of contrast:

• During the same year, the athletic department at the University of Florida had revenue of $107 Million; including donations of over $39 Million.  
• After turning $6.5 Million over to the University, Florida's athletic department still held over $27 Million of publicly traded securities at the end of the year.
• The Big Ten conference distributed over $20 Million to each school during the same year
• The Rose Bowl distributed over just under $18 Million to each school/conference that participated in the Rose Bowl this year

One question that arises is how does BYU compete against schools with an athletic budget that is 4-5 times as large each and every year?  I know BYU has additional concerns besides generating additional revenue.  They like things like "exposure."  However, at it's core, that's a financial issue as well because BYU relies on the same donor base to support the athletic department as well as things like BYU Broadcasting.  That's a sobering thought to this Cougar Club member.