AKRON, Ohio – The University of Akron contributed $23.8 million from college sources last year to help pay for intercollegiate sports, second only to Cincinnati among Ohio schools and an amount 23 percent higher than neighboring Kent State University.
The contribution – up 8 percent last year – covered two-thirds of budget for the Zips’ sports program, making up for what couldn’t be raised through ticket sales and other athletic sources.
Based on fall enrollment, the athletic subsidy amounted to $1,183 per full-time student on campus, cleveland.com found in its annual review of college sports finances in Ohio.
The reporting is based largely on financial reports Division I schools must file with the NCAA each January for the previous school year.
Cleveland.com publishes details from the NCAA reports to add information to the discussion about the overall cost of college. Ohio State is the only public university in Ohio to pay its sports bills entirely with money generated by its athletic department; the other 10 require student fees or other college support.
This year’s series begins with Akron, the largest program in Northeast Ohio in terms of dollars. The school has been undergoing budget cuts.
COMING WEDNESDAY: A detailed look at the finances for the 10 Ohio’s Division I public universities that subsidize sports.
University athletic directors and school presidents often argue the investment in intercollegiate sports deliver a higher profile for the universities, enrich campus life and provide life-learning experiences for the student-athletes. Others, including some professors, question the amount of spending. More can be read on the debate at this link.
Why Akron ranks high for spending and subsidies
The University of Akron.A major reason why Akron’s sports budget is highest among Ohio’s six Mid-American Conference schools is debt on InfoCision Stadium, home to Zips football games since 2009.
Loan payments for the stadium totaled $4.4 million in 2015-16, of which $4.1 was assigned to athletic purposes.
In a cost-cutting move, Akron eliminated its baseball program beginning in 2016. Yet spending on athletics, with 18 remaining teams, still increased 4 percent during the 2015-16 school year to $35.4 million, third highest among Ohio’s public universities behind only Ohio State and Cincinnati.
Among the reasons for the rising costs in 2015-16, the school said in an emailed response to questions, were:
- A retention bonus for basketball coach Keith Dambrot, bringing his overall compensation and benefits for the year to $932,071, up from $626,414 the year before.
- The use of airlines for two away football games instead of just one.
- Studio construction required as part of the MAC’s agreement with ESPN.
- Repairs to InfoCision Stadium.
The university’s contribution to the athletic department grew by $1.7 million – from $22.1 million in 2014-15 to the $23.8 million – the reports show. This was an increase of 8 percent. Since 2009-10, the subsidy at Akron is up 38 percent from $17.3 million.
Changes reported on the NCAA forms from year-to-year, however, sometimes are a matter of accounting.
For example, the University of Cincinnati two years ago reported a sharp drop in athletic costs. But a major reason for the drop was that UC decided to no longer charge the athletic department higher out-of-state tuition for scholarships provided to out-of-state athletes.
For Akron, sports revenue increased in the most recent NCAA filing in part because the school bought $589,920 worth of football tickets distributed in 2015 to recent alumni. The purchase was not made in 2016; so it will not show up as sports revenue in next year’s report.
Akron’s sports budget
Major sources of revenue include:
- University support: $23,813,277.
- Tickets: $1,670,805, including $1,061,584 for football and $370,226 for men’s basketball.
Akron Zips cheerleaders during the 2016 Mid-American Conference basketball tournament. - NCAA distributions: $1,472,085.
- Guarantees for playing away games: $1,287,000.
- Conference distributions: $1,244,203.
- Royalties, licensing and advertisements: $905,402.
- Sports camps: $707,219.
- Bowl revenue: $550,000.
- Total revenue: $34,587,155.
Major area of expenses include:
- Salaries, benefits and bonuses: $10,485,752, including $6,108,320 for coaches and $4,377,432 for staff and administrators.
- Athletic scholarships: $7,248,175.
- Athletic debt service or rental fees: $4,984,886.
- Team travel: $2,551,184.
- Equipment, uniforms and supplies: $1,140,256.
- Guarantees paid to visiting teams: $818,151.
- Bowl expenses: $768,786.
- Games expenses: $761,167.
- Fund raising, marketing and promotion: $527,776.
- Recruiting: $464,521.
- Sports camp expenses: $310,235.
- Total expenses: $35,378,884.
Men’s teams (7): Basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, indoor track and outdoor track. A total of 124.36 scholarships were split among 198 student-athletes, costing $4,067,092.
Women’s teams (10): Basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis, indoor track, outdoor track and volleyball. A total of 94.8 scholarships were split among 162 student-athletes, costing $2,897,342.
Mixed team of men and women (1): Rifle. A total of 3.6 scholarships split among 12 student-athletes, costing $283,741.
Top head coaching pay (including benefits and bonuses): men’s basketball (Keith Dambrot) $932,017; football (Terry Bowden) $567,973, women’s basketball (Jodi Kest) $308,042, and men’s soccer (Jared Embick) $284,141).
Rich Exner, data analysis editor for cleveland.com, writes about numbers on a variety of topics. Follow on Twitter @RichExner.
