Georgia football upped recruiting expenses, more in FY2023
ATHENS, Ga. (BVM) – The University of Georgia’s athletic department has filed its annual financial report to the NCAA for the 2023 fiscal year.
The 81-page filing for fiscal year 2023 covers the reporting year from July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023. Many can recall that the Bulldogs won the national title during the 2022 football season.
Here are the takeaways regarding UGA football’s revenue, expenses and profits.
Revenue
Georgia athletics across all sports generated $210,108,069 in total operating revenue in FY2023. That’s a $7.1 million increase from FY2022.
UGA’s football program made $152.7 million in revenue in FY2023 which, unfortunately, is $3.2 million less when compared to FY2022. Men’s basketball, which raked in $13.1 million, claims its spot as the second-highest revenue-generating sport in Athens.
Football generated $36.7 million of the athletic department’s $38.5 million in total ticket sales. Media rights for football totaled $20.2 million. Money made by football in royalties, licensing, advertisement and sponsorships also increased this reporting year to $17.4 million.
Expenses
UGA’s athletic department as a whole spent $186,604,238 in total operating expenses in FY2023. That’s an additional $17.6 million that was spent in comparison to FY2022.
The football program allocated $69.1 million for its operations in FY2023, while men’s basketball spent the second most at $10.3 million.
Interestingly enough, UGA football’s expenses in FY2022 totaled just $61.7 million – meaning that football upped its expense budget by $7.3 million for FY2023.
One notable expense is recruiting. UGA spent $5.3 million to recruit football players in FY2023. The spending laid the groundwork for Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs to acquire the No. 2 recruiting class in 2023 and the No. 1 class in 2024.
Many can recall that Georgia made national headlines last year (FY2022) for spending $4.5 million on football recruiting. The program spent lavishly on feasts, flights and more to make up the No. 1 largest recruiting budget in all of college football. It’s unclear where they stand in FY2023 since all the data reported to the NCAA isn’t readily available yet. What is clear is that Ohio State football spent just $1.6 million on recruiting in FY2023.
Profits
The Georiga Bulldogs athletic department as a whole posted $23,503,831 in profits during FY2023 (down $10.5 million from FY2022).
Also down were the profits made by the football team; the Bulldogs profited $83.7 million in FY2023, but they generated $94.2 million in profits back in FY2022. Georgia was the No. 2 most profitable college football team during the 2022 fiscal year, so it’ll be interesting to see where the team ranks now since profits are down.
Overall, aside from football, the only other profitable teams at UGA were men’s basketball at $2.8 million and men’s track and field/cross country at $154K.