There is little to rejoice about in wake of any news regarding a deficit but in the case of the UCLA Bruins, perhaps there may be at least a silver lining.
In response to the USA Today’s most recent findings about total revenue, total expenses and the major findings from their 2018-19 college financial study, things could actually be worse for UCLA.
In fact, the $18,926,075 deficit run up by the athletics department isn’t the biggest one in the Pac-12.
Largest discrepancy in revenue gained vs expenses from athletic departments | 2018-19 | per @usatodaysports— Cam Mellor (@CamMellor) July 16, 2020
1. Alabama: -$21.2M
2. Cal: -$19.1M
3. UCLA: -$18.9M
4. Louisville: -$11.2M
5. Ga. Tech: -$10.5
6. Ohio State: -$10.0M
7. S. Illinois: -$9.3M
8. Ole Miss: -$4.6M
Cal bested UCLA by drawing a $19.1M deficit, ranking second in the country while UCLA’s ranked third.
Okay, fine, enough about the silver lining, that $18.9M figure is not good. It’s a clear-cut third place nationally as the next closest school was over $7M away.
The findings came from the USA Today after they reported every major university in the country that was required to report their financial data and some that voluntary did so. In total, 10 of the 12 Pac-12 schools reported their with USC and Stanford being the lone two not accounted for.
The reports showcased total revenue generated, total expenses and then allocated funds and percentages allocated. However, some simple math gave us the deficit, or surplus, for the schools all the same.
UCLA brought in $108,412,967 in total revenue but their total expenses rang up to $127,339,042. Their total expenses figure ranked 25th-highest in the country while their total revenue ranked 35th. Only Washington and Oregon had higher expenses than UCLA but each of those programs either saw a surplus, or came with $1.5M of a surplus.
Speaking of surpluses:
Most gained re: total expenses vs total revenue from athletics departments | 2018-19 | per @usatodaysports— Cam Mellor (@CamMellor) July 16, 2020
1. Texas A&M: +$43.7M
2. Georgia: +$30.7M
3. Texas: +$19.6M
4. Florida: +$17.9M
5. Missouri-KC: +$13.8M
6. Miss. St.: +$13.4M
7. Auburn: +$13.2M
8. Indiana: +$13.0M
The report, methodology and findings can be found here.