ATHENS — The University of Georgia took in a lot more athletic revenue than it spent during the previous school year, according to USA Today’s annual database on athletic department finances, which was released on Sunday.
UGA ranked 15th nationally, and eighth in the SEC, in total athletics revenue, at $116.15 million, during the 2014-15 school year.
Meanwhile, the school ranked 25th nationally, and 10th in the SEC, in expenses, at $96.56 million. Only Missouri, the Mississippi schools and presumably Vanderbilt spent less. (Vanderbilt, as the SEC’s lone private school, did not have to report its finances.)
Georgia’s spending should be increasing a lot for the 2015-16 school year. The athletics department has outlayed more financial resources for new head football coach Kirby Smart, andincreased the previous football staff’s recruiting budget as the summer of 2015. Plus, the school is paying more than $6 million in buyouts to Mark Richt, Brian Schottenheimer and Jeremy Pruitt.
The school is also building an indoor athletic facility budgeted for $30.2 million, but athletics director Greg McGarity has said the majority of that is being fundraised through donors.
UGA’s total from subsidies is $3.212 million – from student athletic fees – an amount higher than every SEC school except Auburn, according to USA Today. Six SEC schools did not receive any subsidy.