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Tuesday, March 19, 2024

The cost of winning: Comparing UF’s football spending to other SEC teams

<p><span id="docs-internal-guid-9991663c-f611-40e7-6bf1-f753b289c3ba"><span id="docs-internal-guid-9991663c-f611-40e7-6bf1-f753b289c3ba">Statistics from the U.S. Department of Education’s database on Equity in Athletics. Numbers from Missouri and Texas A&amp;M begin when they joined the SEC in 2012.</span></span></p>

Statistics from the U.S. Department of Education’s database on Equity in Athletics. Numbers from Missouri and Texas A&M begin when they joined the SEC in 2012.

From 2003-2014, only Auburn and Alabama spent more on football than UF.

And despite spending nearly $80 million less over 12 seasons, the Gators won more conference games than the Tigers and four fewer than the Crimson Tide over that span.

Using data from the Department of Education, we can see which teams have spent the least for success by tracking conference wins and examining inflation-adjusted football expenses over time.

There are limits to comparing spending efficiency side by side. While the NCAA makes schools file detailed financial reports, there’s no real enforcement mechanism.

“If your athletic department decides that you want to account for (expenses) a little differently,” said sports business reporter and consultant Kristi Dosh, “there’s really no one stopping you.”

But even limited data gives fans a window into which schools are breaking the bank to compete.

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Florida has outspent other SEC East teams from 2003-2014. The increase in 2014 represents the cost of the Gators coaching switch at the end of 2014.

 

UF spent 22 percent more than the SEC East average from 2003 to 2014, according to Department of Education data.

The Gators’ costs ballooned in 2014, when the team spent more than $37 million, 41 percent more than any other SEC East team.

Florida’s second largest expense in 2014 was severance payments, including those to both outgoing coach Will Muschamp and to Colorado State for incoming coach Jim McElwain, University Athletic Association spokesman Steve McClain wrote in an email.

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Top three expenses from UF’s NCAA financial revenues and expenses reports. *Coaches’ Salaries include coaching salaries, benefits and bonuses paid by the university and related entities.

 

High profile coaches are a worthwhile investment, since a level of notoriety and history of winning can attract more talented recruits, said UF sports finance assistant professor Brian Mills.

“We see the same coaches like Nick Saban, and Urban Meyer and Jim Harbaugh going to different places and continuing to win at an extremely high level,” Mills said.

 

The data shows Georgia (~$3.96M per win) kept costs down and still won at a high level. Alabama only won one more conference game than Georgia (67 vs. 66) over the 12-year stretch, despite outspending Georgia by more than $100 million when adjusted for inflation.

Schools paying the most for conference wins, like Vanderbilt and Kentucky, tend to spend less and win fewer games, using the football team more as marketing to attract students, Mills said.

Except for Auburn, which spent more money than any SEC school over the 12-year span.

SEC West schools spent about 11 percent more on football than East schools on average.

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Auburn became the first SEC team to spend $50 million in 2013.

 

And while the West’s accolades have gone to Alabama, Auburn was the division’s highest spending team.

From 2003 to 2014, Auburn spent 42 percent more than the conference average, while Alabama spent 38 percent more.

 

What about the effect of deep-pocketed donors on spending and recruiting?

Dosh said large individual donations to one sport can’t have an immediate effect on the football team by design.

“For Title IX purposes, you couldn’t spend it,” Dosh said. “Because if you spent all that on football, then you’d have to turn around and spend an equal amount essentially on women’s sports.”

But when there is a big donation, Dosh said schools typically invest it in something highly visible to recruits, like a facility. And sometimes the more lavish the facility, the more it appeals to recruits.

“Having a putt-putt course in the middle of a football operations center or a waterfall or a barbershop,” Dosh said. “When you’re a 17-year-old,18-year-old kid going to look at schools, and you’re having a tough time making up your mind, you can be swayed.”

Contact Matt Brannon at mbrannon@alligator.org or follow him on Twitter @MattB_727

 

Statistics from the U.S. Department of Education’s database on Equity in Athletics. Numbers from Missouri and Texas A&M begin when they joined the SEC in 2012.

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