UA Athletics Lost Money in 2024 But There’s a Bigger Elephant in the Room
Published January 20, 2025 - 3:30 PM CST
Recent headlines have raised eyebrows about the University of Alabama athletic department losing money in 2024. At the surface, it sounds like one more area of concern to pile onto after a disappointing football season. However, when you look at the numbers, the situation is not that bad (all figures below are approximate). What is more concerning are recent developments pertaining to the payment of student-athletes and how those payments may unexpectedly fall under Title IX domain.
For the fiscal year that ended June 30th, 2024, the UA athletic department reported $234.8 million in revenue compared to $262.8 million in expenses.
Source: Tuscaloosa News
Of that whopping $262.8 million in expenses, however, $65.3 million went towards one-time expenses related to the coaching transition, according to Jessica Schingle, UA’s Open Records & Project Specialist. It is worth noting that the football program actually turned a profit during this fiscal year, reporting revenues of $140.3 million compared to only $113.8 million in expenses.
So given everything that happened over the past year at Alabama, the football program still had a budget surplus of $26.4 million. In fact, only one other sport at the University of Alabama had a surplus in 2024: Men’s basketball brought in $21.3 million and spent only $15.3M million, good enough for a surplus of about $6 million.
Source: Tuscaloosa News
Without football and men’s basketball, the deficit turns into $60.5M. Now, the fact that sports other than football and basketball run a deficit at most seasons is nothing out of the ordinary in college athletics. Most big-time programs depend on large surpluses generated from the football and/or basketball program(s) to fund other sports. Whether you agree with it or not, this is one big reason why Title IX has had so much influence over college sports since its inception and evolution in the 70s.
The real elephant in the room (pun intended) now is going to be what happens since the Department of Education stated last week in a memo that payments made by colleges to student-athletes are subject to Title IX. How so? Per the memo, payments made to athletes for name, image, and likeness are presently defined as “financial assistance,” which means that they are subject to the rules of Title IX. I use the word presently with careful consideration because given all of the rapid developments related to paying college athletes, things are always changing and developing.
I’m not a Title IX expert, but even if I were, I’d be completely guessing if I said I knew what the future held. Speculating on what Congress will do is always a crapshoot, and then when you think you’ve figured it out, appeals and succeeding administrations inevitably lead to more changes. Just look at how much back and forth has gone on with the student loan situation.
With a new class of elected officials taking office now, there are just too many what-ifs to speculate on right now. On one extreme, we could see some relief or complete detachment from the recent ruling rendering this whole discussion about Title IX moot. On the other hand, we could see some major budgetary changes (cuts) in the coming months as universities deal with the repercussions of having to modify their anticipated expenditures. Many smaller men’s sports programs such as wrestling, swimming, cross country, and even track & field could be cut. After all, track & field programs often lose the most money when it comes to college athletics, so why wouldn’t they be on the chopping block if it comes down to money?
As scary as all this might sound, the reality is the biggest sports programs will find a way. It might not be pretty all the time, but the largest programs will adapt and make all of the necessary changes (cuts) needed to continue to flourish. Given the profitability of men’s football and basketball, those sports clearly aren’t going anywhere at some of the larger institutions. But what it means for the smaller sports and smaller universities is another issue. In a worst-case scenario, you’re going to see large-scale shutdowns of predominantly men’s programs that are losing money. College sports, right or wrong, has been treated like a business for a few decades now, and we will soon see some big business decisions made.
Another point I have to address revolves around Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne supposedly “begging” Alabama fans for money, as the media would spin it. Let’s be realistic for a moment, what is he supposed to do in his position as the AD at Alabama? I read the email that went out encouraging fans to contribute to Yea Alabama; it’s his job to get fans to support UA athletics. After all, if you bleed crimson, surely you can spare a few dollars, right? In all seriousness, you’d almost be disappointed if there wasn’t a way for fans to contribute because that is what college sports have become.
There’s a growing faction of fans grumbling about the growing infusion of money into college sports, but the fact is more and more people are tuning in and attending the games. As long as this trend continues, don’t expect anything to change. As they say, it is what it is.
Either way you look at it, the (NIL) elephant in the room is getting bigger.
