UPDATE: The Clarion Ledger story is no longer available online, so the Capstone Report contacted every SEC athletic department and created a new story and a new graph on the 2008-2009 SEC athletic department budgets.
Everyone knows college athletics is big business. Just how big changes with every tv contract. The Clarion Ledger provided a snapshot of every athletic department’s budget and the role private foundations play in funding the programs. To put it into perspective, I created a graph of the SEC schools based on the information in the Clarion Ledger report.
There is little very shocking in the numbers: the Mississippi schools trail the rest of the SEC in money spent on athletics. For almost all schools, the private foundations raised from one-third to one-half the total athletic department budgets. The biggest exception to that rule was Vanderbilt. Vandy raised only about $2.2 million from donations, according to the Clarion Ledger report.
You’re leaving something out. Ole Miss’ athletic budget is several million above MSU’s.
Not according to the Clarion Ledger report I used to create the graphic almost two years ago.
Ole Miss athletic budget $48.2 million
http://www.olemisssports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&SPSID=13231&SPID=756&DB_OEM_ID=2600&ATCLID=1282813
Those numbers were about five months after the article from the Clarion Ledger, which used I think 2006 numbers.
I’d expect the numbers to be even higher now as all SEC schools have seen growth in revenue and spending.
This is so old now, the Clarion Ledger report isn’t even available on their website anymore (went to check so I could review their fiscal year information). Their report was likely based on 2006 budgets, but could have been even 2005 numbers.