In the Big 12, football pays the bills so a season lost to coronavirus will hurt
Losing a college football season is something that nobody involved in college athletics wants to see amid the coronavirus pandemic. And it’s especially true for Big 12 schools, which is home to major programs like Texas and Oklahoma.
It’s why there’s talk of shortening the season. Or delaying the season. Or even moving the season the spring of 2021. Everything is on the table.
There’s simply too much at stake financially. Most major college athletic departments would be decimated if there was no football season.
Among the 10 Big 12 schools, eight are public and therefore required to disclose financial documents about their programs. Baylor and TCU, on the other hand, are private schools and do not have to file such reports.
An analysis of data and reports obtained by the Star-Telegram revealed just how much money is on the line. (Schools file financial reports with the NCAA every January.) The University of Texas generated $114 million in profit from its football program in the 2019 fiscal year, as reported by the San Antonio Express-News last month, far and away the most lucrative program in the conference. Oklahoma came in a distant second, having generated $51.3 million for FY 2018, the last year that such information was available.
And the problem is not solely a Big 12 issue. In fact, 10 of the top 25 revenue-generating athletic programs in the United States for the 2017-18 fiscal year were in the Southeastern Conference. A report by fellow McClatchy newspaper, the Lexington Hearld-Leader (Kentucky), earlier this month provided a detailed look at how the loss of college football would hurt all SEC schools.
Without a season — and the revenue that comes with it — the athletic programs at all of these schools would be drowning in debt.
As a private institution, TCU isn’t subject to open records requests. But athletic director Jeremiah Donati acknowledged the importance of having a football season in some fashion. Even if fans aren’t allowed to attend games, which would be a major blow to university budgets, the TV revenue generated would help offset those losses.
“The first thing is to play the games,” Donati said. “That’s the top priority because of our television contract with the Big 12 is very lucrative.”
But a season without fans would be costly. Donati estimated the university generates roughly $25 million from “live gate,” which includes revenue from tickets to parking to donations to concession sales.
Texas Tech, meanwhile, generated $11 million from ticket sales in FY 2018, while Iowa State made $11.6 million and Kansas State brought in $12.6 million.
Kansas made the least money on ticket sales, at $2.7 million. The Jayhawks are one of the few programs in the country, in fact, that could operate in the black even if football isn’t played. That’s largely because of the Jayhawks’ men’s basketball team, which for the 2018-19 season generated $15.9 million in ticket sales. The team had a profit of $6.3 million that season.
KU made $12.4 million from its football team in fiscal year 2018 against a total revenue from its athletic department of $12.7 million.
West Virginia is the only other Big 12 team that would be in the black as far as total revenue without football. The Mountaineers essentially broke even on football in 2018 ($24.1 million in operating revenue against $24 million in operating expenses) and had total revenues of $4.4 million.
Most schools, though, would be millions of dollars in the hole. Kansas State’s loss of $18.2 million looks favorable compared to Oklahoma’s $51.3 million loss and Texas’ $97.6 million loss if football is absent for an entire season.
Of course, these numbers are fluid. No school truly knows the totality of what losing a football season would mean financially.
As Texas A&M athletic director Ross Bjork said, “There’ll be some people who want a full refund, there’ll be some people who say, ‘Hey, these are tough times. Keep my money. I’ll support the program.’
“You can take the last financial report and extrapolate the full value of season-ticket numbers and come at it that way, but I think it’s so individualized based on the ticket holder that it’s just hard to say exactly what the impact would be. You’re just guessing and speculating at this point.”
But there’s no question losing a football season would be catastrophic for all involved.
Forward thinking
Attendance at football games has been dropping given the ease of watching games at home. If football is played and no fans are allowed in the stadium, a trickle-down effect could follow: Future attendance numbers could suffer even more.
After all, season-ticket holders may become more apt to just continue watching from the couch instead of spending the time or money to attend games live.
Donati disagreed with that mindset.
“I am convinced that once it is safe to do so fans will be enthusiastic about attending games,” Donati said. “As great as the television and multimedia options have become, there is nothing like seeing it in person. Our return to live sports will have an unprecedented sense of spirit, unity and symbolism that everyone will want to be a part of.”
| School | FB Operating Revenue | FB Operating Expenses | Net FB Revenue | Total Sports Revenue | Total Revenue (no FB) |
| Iowa State | $51.9 million | $27.2 million | $24.7 million | $97,000 | -$24.6 million |
| Kansas | $37.7 million | $25.3 million | $12.4 million | $12.7 million | $300,000 |
| Kansas State | $42 million | $19.7 million | $22.3 million | $4.1 million | -$18.2 million |
| Oklahoma (2017-18) | $94.8 million | $43.5 million | $51.3 million | $148,000 | -$51.1 million |
| Oklahoma State | $52.2 million | $24.3 million | $27.9 million | $327,000 | -$27.6 million |
| Texas (FY2019) | $157 million | $43 million | $114 million | $16.4 million | -$97.6 million |
| Texas Tech | $59.4 million | $30.4 million | $29 million | $1.5 million | -$27.5 million |
| West Virginia | $24.1 million | $24 million | $80,000 | $4.4 million | $4.3 million |
This story was originally published April 16, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
