MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia University’s athletic department on Friday announced a $4.2 million profit during fiscal year 2012-13, a bounce-back from the previous year’s $12.9 million deficit.
The department brought in more than $77.7 million last year while expenses topped $73.5 million. Read the budget breakdown here.
Among factors fueling the surplus was a $10.3 million partial-payout in Big 12 earnings. (WVU and TCU, upon joining the conference last year, agreed to receive 50-percent revenue shares in 2013, 67 percent in 2014 and 85 percent in 2015, before finally netting full shares in 2016.) West Virginia also enjoyed a record take for Mountaineer Athletic Club donations, surpassing $23.9 million.
“I cannot say enough about the job turned in by our Mountaineer Athletic Club staff to reach record-breaking fundraising numbers for the second straight year,” said WVU athletics director Oliver Luck. “I also want to thank the MAC members who rallied around us and the many fans who purchased tickets to various athletic events.”
Matt Borman, executive director of the MAC, attributed fundraising gains to fan excitement surrounding last year’s Big 12 debut, along with the basketball season-ticket reseating campaign that concluded a month before the 2013 fiscal year ended June 30.
The largest expense was more than $26.3 million in compensation and benefits to coaches, administrators and staff members. Basketball coach Bob Huggins saw his salary climb to $3 million last year while football coach Dana Holgorsen earned $2.5 million in the first year of a six-year extension.
Some $10.6 million was devoted to facilities maintenance and repair and more than $8.7 million was spent on student aid for the school’s 358 athletes. Team travel costs topped $6.9 million, with equipment/uniforms/supplies at $3.5 million. The athletics department spent more than $1.3 million on recruiting.
“Oliver asked all of us to trim our budgets, but do so in a way that would not affect our competitiveness athletically or hinder our student-athletes in the classroom,” said Michael Szul, WVU’s associate athletic director for business operations. “The athletic staff worked with the business office to tighten budgets, and along with our MAC donors’ generosity, we were able to reach our goal of turning an excess.”
The department brought in nearly $10.3 million combined on radio/television broadcasts, royalties, sponsorships, concessions and parking.
Said Luck: “We all know how important it is to have a self-supporting athletic department, and that goal has been reached once again.”
Of course, the term self-supporting is a gray area in Division I sports. WVU’s athletic department received $4.3 million from student fees last year, essentially the margin of profitability. (Not that the Mountaineers are alone in this practice. A 2012 USA Today report found only seven Division I athletics programs—Texas, Oklahoma, Penn State, LSU, Nebraska, Ohio State and Purdue—received no university subsidies.)
In May, Luck projected fiscal year 2014 would bring a $50,000 shortfall.