How Clemson football performed financially in FY2023
CLEMSON, S.C. BVM) – The Clemson Tigers’ athletic department filed its annual financial report to the NCAA for fiscal year 2023.
BVM Sports obtained the 80-page filing through an open records request.
Here are the takeaways about Clemson football’s revenue, expenses and profits from FY2023, which covers the reporting year from July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023.
Revenue
Clemson athletics as a whole set a new revenue record in FY2023 after generating $195.98 million – up a staggering $37.7 million from FY2022.
Football revenue: Clemson football increased its annual revenue by $6.3 million to reach $76.9 million in FY2023. Men’s basketball followed as the second-highest revenue generator ($9.9 million)
Ticket sales: Football’s ticket sales were reported as down – going from $29.2 million in FY2022 to $27.9 million in FY2023. Meanwhile, men’s basketball’s ticket revenue was $1.5 million in FY2023.
Game programs, novelties, parking and concession sales: Football accrued $1.1 million in this category, which is a significant increase from the $773,373 generated in FY2022.
Media rights: Clemson’s media rights deals totaled $30.3 million – between football ($25.7 million) and men’s basketball ($4.5 million).
Royalties, licensing, advertisement and sponsorships: Football saw a near million-dollar surge – soaring from $960,000 in FY2022 to $1.9 million in FY2023.
Expenses
Clemson athletics as a whole spent a record-breaking $174.3 million in operating expenses for FY2023. This marks a $30.9 million increase compared to the department’s expenditures in FY2022.
Team expenses: Football’s expenses reached $66.8 million in FY2023 (up $11.9 million from FY2022). Men’s basketball emerged as the second most expensive sports program ($10 million).
Meals: Football spent $3.4 million on non-travel student-athlete meal allowances and food/snacks in FY2023. Men’s basketball, on the other hand, spent just $136,417.
Team travel: Meals provided to players on the road were reported under “team travel,” but this category also takes into account lodging, air and ground travel. Team travel for football jumped by nearly a million dollars – amounting to $3.3 million in FY2023.
Recruiting: Back in FY2022, Clemson football spent $3.2 on recruiting and ranked as the second largest spender in this category. In FY2023, Clemson spent $3.5 million to recruit its football players, which was 71% of the university’s total recruiting budget allocated for all sports. The spending laid the groundwork for the Tigers to acquire the No. 11 recruiting class in both 2023 and 2024. Women’s basketball followed with the second-highest recruiting spending at $239,825.
Salaries: Head and assistant football coaching salaries, benefits and bonuses skyrocketed from $13.8 million in FY2022 to $17.4 million in FY2023. For the 2023 season, head coach Dabo Swinney was the second highest-paid college football coach ($10.9 million).
Profits
Clemson athletics recorded profits of $21.7 million during FY2023, a substantial increase from the $14.9 million surplus in FY2022.
Football’s profits: Back in FY2022, Clemson football’s profits amounted to $15.7 million, but the program didn’t make the national list of the most profitable college football teams. In FY2023, football’s profits were reported as down and totaled $10.1 million. However, football was the only profitable team on Clemson’s campus; men’s basketball came close to a surplus but posted a deficit of -$82,679.
The next fiscal year report (FY2024) will be available by January 2025.
