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Thursday, April 5
Final Four teams know they're 'so money'
By Tom Farrey
ESPN.com
The Final Four is set, bringing with it the hard truth of an era when the financial gap between the haves and have-nots in college basketball is as vast as anything in the professional leagues: cash is king, once again.
Despite scores of upsets in the early and middle rounds, the men's NCAA Tournament will be won by one of the richest teams in college basketball, an ESPN.com analysis shows. Arizona, Duke and Maryland were all among the top seven wealthiest teams in the nation last year, and Michigan State wasn't far behind (see chart).
|  | | As the richest basketball program in the country, Kentucky can expect to be back in the Final Four with or without Tayshaun Prince. |
The Bill Gates of college basketball is Kentucky, which generated $11.3 million in revenues last year. The Wildcats' loss to undernourished USC ($2.5 million) in the round-of-16 provided some late hope for game's upstarts. But as with Temple, Gonzaga, Penn State and Mississippi, the Trojans were dismissed by the end of this past weekend like so much effluvium.
The powers that be in college basketball will always roar loudest and longest, said Kentucky athletic director Larry Ivy.
"It may be easier for the smaller programs to compete one year because one player can make such an impact," said Ivy, whose team has won seven NCAA titles including two since 1996. "But as a rule, it's tougher to compete on a consistent basis."
The money that pours into Wildcat coffers allowed the school to spend $4.2 million on its basketball program last year -- twice as much as Temple and six times that of Gonzaga. The funds help provide Kentucky with superior recruiting, competitive coaches' salaries, academic support, even luxury air travel for players.
ESPN.com compiled the list of the wealthiest programs in college basketball from standardized reports filed with the federal government. Under the Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act, every school receiving taxpayer funds must share basic information with the Department of Education each year.
The accounting procedures differ among schools. But the data offers a window into the financial state of the teams competing in the NCAA Tournament, as well as the impact that winning can have on the bottom line.
For established, tradition-rich programs, going deep into the tournament makes little difference, said Andrew Zimbalist, a Smith College professor and expert on sports economics.
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Money Teams
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Here is a look at the top revenue-generating college men's basketball teams in the country:
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Revs.
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Exps.
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Profit
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Kentucky
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$11.3M
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$4.2M
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$7.1M
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Arizona
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$10.0M
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$3.9M
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$6.1M
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Syracuse
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$9.6M
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$6.5M
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$3.1M
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N.Carolina
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$9.2M
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$2.8M
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$6.4M
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Duke
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$7.8M
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$2.9M
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$4.9M
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Illinois
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$7.7M
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$2.7M
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$5.0M
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Maryland
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$7.4M
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$2.1M
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$5.3M
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Ohio State
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$7.1M
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$3.3M
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$3.8M
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UConn
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$7.1M
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$3.8M
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$3.3M
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Indiana
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$7.1M
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$2.9M
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$4.2M
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UCLA
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$7.0M
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$2.6M
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$4.4M
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Iowa
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$7.0M
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$1.9M
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$5.1M
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"The most important part of the revenue picture for basketball teams is home attendance," he said. "Do they fill the arena? Do the boosters give a lot of money? It helps if you go all the way, but even the biggest schools will see no more than a $1 million boost in income the next year."
The NCAA rewards schools for winning tournament games, but distributes the money over six years. Conferences then force schools to share that money with other conference members. So, for instance, every time Kentucky wins in late March, Vanderbilt gets a cut every year for the next six years.
The Wildcats separate themselves from the competition with their local revenues: a $2.2 million contract with Host Communications to televise each game the national networks don't pick up, and $5 million a year in ticket sales at 23,000-seat Rupp Arena.
Kentucky probably could make a lot more money, too. Rupp Arena offers no luxury suites. And, reluctant to aggravate longtime season ticket holders by making them pay for the right to renew those seats, the Wildcats are next-to-last in the Southeastern Conference in seat donor fees.
"We've still got some wiggle room to grow," Ivy said.
The NCAA Tournament is more a tool of growth for obscure teams. In 1996, Gonzaga made only $115,785 from men's basketball and spent $486,432. Then, they started winning tournament games, educating the nation that there, in fact, is a college called Gonzaga. Last year, basketball revenues jumped to $1.1 million even though the West Coast Conference doesn't distribute any NCAA Tournament winnings to its members.
Riding the wave of momentum, overall athletic department revenues at Gonzaga also have jumped 10-fold in only four years -- to $4.9 million. Donations are up. Season tickets have tripled.
In this year's NCAA Tournament, there was no shortage of teams hoping to recreate the Gonzaga miracle. Just one victory in the tournament can provide an enormous boost for a program such as Southern Utah, which last year spent $379,000 on men's basketball and brought in only $243,000. The No. 14-seed Thunderbirds lost to No. 2 Boston College, 68-65, in the opening round.
But even Cinderella can end up dancing with a mongrel, Zimbalist said.
"Once these turnaround schools get to that new level they spend more -- on recruiting, traveling, the coach, the arena," he said. "The team's net (profit or loss) doesn't always go up. And then there are problems if they start spending all this money and can't sustain the success."
Gonzaga has beaten that trap so far. Kentucky probably always will, as long as schools aren't forced to pay players above the cost of their scholarships, which for the Wildcats runs $14,388 a year for out-of-state players and about half that for in-staters.
It's proven to be a formula for bankrolling championships.
"Money is a distinct advantage," said Daniel Fulks, a Transylvania University (Ky.) professor who compiles financial statistics for the NCAA. "That's what made America great -- the rich get richer."
And, come April, the poor can fantasize.
Tom Farrey is a senior writer with ESPN.com. He can be reached at tom.farrey@espn.com Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
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