This isn't a precise comparison, but these numbers from the Department of Education give us a glimpse into how profitable each of the ACC men's basketball programs were in 2009-2010. Now before you go flaming me after seeing Duke's figures, a word on Duke:
Some schools even make their programs look worse. Duke University, a top seed in this year's NCAA men's basketball tournament, reported the largest loss of any men's basketball program last year after years of annual profits in the $4 million to $5 million range. The school said that was due to a shift in revenue to the non-sport specific classification.
North Carolina was the conference's most profitable basketball outfit, pulling in more than $12 million last year. Here is a look at the ACC:
- North Carolina - $12,364,115
- N.C. State - $7,166,869
- Maryland - $5,902,659
- Georgia Tech - $5,334,856
- Wake Forest - $4,573,700
- Virginia Tech - $3,940,022
- Clemson - $3,433,424
- Miami - $1,929,507
- Florida State - $1,407,281
- Virginia - $1,131,216
- Boston College - $0
- Duke - (2,031,850)
BC netted out, reporting revenues and expenses that totaled $5,688,912. UNC led the conference in revenues, bringing in almost $20 million, followed by Duke (~$12 mil) and N.C. State (~$11 mil). Based on the non-GAAP approved accounting anomaly noted above, Duke was the biggest spender with over $13 million in expenses related to their basketball program. UNC comes in a distant second having spent almost $7.5 million.
The amount of money a program brings in is somewhat proportion to the size of their home arena. The Dean Dome is the largest arena in the conference, seating 21,750. N.C. State's RBC Center (19,722) and Maryland's Comcast Center (17,950) run 2-3 in the conference in terms of capacity. Those three programs also run 1-3 in profitability. More seats, more cash.
Thoughts?
H/T: Troy Nunes