Football season vital to Georgia’s athletics budget, financial report shows
Football season is vital to Georgia’s athletics budget, the Bulldogs’ most recent financial report shows.
Football is one of two sports at Georgia that made a net profit last fiscal year, according to the school’s 2018-2019 financial report. And it made far and away the most money.
The Bulldogs football team made $73,865,915 last fiscal year, while Tom Crean’s men’s basketball team turned a net profit of $2,937,801.
All other sports combined for a net loss of over $22 million.
UGA athletics as a whole reported a net profit of over $30.7 million last fiscal year.
Ticket sales were the football team’s main source of revenue — apart from contributions received — in Fiscal Year 2019. The team made over $34 million in ticket sales, while making over $18.8 million in media rights and receiving over $44 million in contributions.
The football team was the only program at UGA to break the $1 million mark in ticket sales, with men’s basketball making $901,573.
UGA anticipates returning to in-person instruction in the fall, according to an email to faculty, staff and students on April 29.
“Our top priority in a phased, gradual reopening over the summer is the safety of our faculty, staff, and students,” UGA President Jere Morehead wrote in the email. “ ... We are anticipating a resumption of in-person instruction for the Fall Semester beginning in August 2020 for all USG institutions. However, I would emphasize that this situation remains a fluid one, as the USG monitors developments related to COVID-19 and receives counsel from state public health officials. Guidance could be subject to change, even after our plans are put in place. We will need to remain flexible and patient as we move forward.”
The email did not mention athletics, though the plan to have in-person classes is a promising one for a 2020 football season.
However, there are still a lot of moving parts. SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey took a positive stance on March 18.
“I’m a half-full perspective person, so I have optimism (that there will be a 2020 football season),” Sankey said. “We have taken measures as have our colleague conferences, at this time, I think that if I read those health leaders, we’re going to have a period of time to see what happens with the growth of these cases and we’ll make decisions down the road.”
This story was originally published May 7, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
