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Louisville Concession Data

Last Updated on June 5, 2014

One school which has recently been frequently listed as a potential candidate for conferences to add as a new member as they seek to expand, is Louisville.  There have been mumblings that conferences, including the Big 12, seek to add the Louisville Cardinals as a member.

There are many reasons that make Louisville an attractive target for conference realignment, including the strength of its men’s basketball team along with its profitability.

While the following is not likely a piece of data conferences seriously consider when deciding which schools to add into their mix, it paints an interesting portrait of just how large and profitable Louisville’s athletic program is.  Upon learning that Louisville is one of the few schools in the country that sells beer at some of its athletic events, BusinessofCollegeSports.com reached out to the Louisville athletic department to learn more about how much money the school brings in through concession sales.

Before setting out Louisville’s concession data, remember that in 2009-10–before ever playing a game in its new KFC Yum! Center–the men’s basketball team was the 21st most profitable sports program in the country.  This in and of itself was no small feat, as the men’s basketball team was the most profitable  basketball program in the nation and even surpassed some high-power football programs, including Wisconsin, Oregon and USC in terms of profitability.

Although concessions do not make up the bulk of Louisville’s revenue, it is no surprise that the Cardinals–whose football and basketball facilities are named after food-chains–have reaped a significant amount of dollars in selling snacks that fans love.

Football

In 2010, throughout seven home football games held at the Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium, Louisville received $785,000.00 in concession revenue.

This dollar amount represents Louisville’s 30 percent split with its concessionaire, Centerplate.  Thus, in seven home football games, Louisville sold $2,616,666.66 worth of concessions, or on average, $373,809.52 worth of hot dogs, peanuts, beer and other concessions during each game.  Louisville does not breakdown what dollar amount of sales is attributed to a particular item, such as hot dogs, pizza or beer.

Basketball 

As mentioned above, Louisville’s men’s basketball team is the most-profitable in the country.  However, it is unlikely that the bulk of this profit is being driven by concession sales.

In 23 home basketball games in the new KFC Yum! Center in 2010-11, Louisville received $461,000 in profit.

Louisville’s contract with its concessionaire, Centerplate, grants it 50 percent of the concession revenue.  So, during 23 games, Louisville basketball brought in $922,000.00 worth of concession revenue, or $40,086.00 per game.

The disparity in concession sales at Louisville football and basketball games is understood when you consider the number of seats at each facility.  The KFC Yum! Center where the Louisville basketball teams play, has seating for 22,000, whereas Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium where the football team plays, has seating for 42,000.

In 2009-10, the men’s basketball team brought in $25,890,003.00 in revenue.  Assuming that Louisville brought in the same amount of profit from concessions during that year and applying all of the revenue earned through concessions to the men’s basketball team’s revenue (and not the women’s), concessions sales accounted for 1.7 percent of the men’s basketball team’s revenue.

So, while $461,000.00 corresponds with a lot of hot dogs, pieces of pizza and cups of beer being enjoyed by Cardinals fans, it does not account significantly for Louisville’s financial success.

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11 Comments

11 Comments

  1. Jeffery Roy

    October 26, 2011 at 11:50 am

    Kristi frequently made the point a program is only as strong as its TV contracts. Does UL basketball have a separate contract for local rights in addition to being part of the Big East package? When it comes to Louisville, Cardinals’ hoops are the biggest show in town and its advertising take must be huge.

    If they don’t land in the Big 12 would they be interested in the C-USA Big West coast-to-coast megaconference? David Barron posted this in the Houston Chronicle today on WVU:
    http://www.chron.com/sports/college/article/Fluid-realignment-landscape-may-find-West-2236301.php

    University of Houston officials likely have refundable tickets for Providence as they wait for the next shoe to drop in the Big Least football saga. We Houstonians look forward to your breakdown of the Coogs’ options.

    Reply

  2. Alicia Jessop

    October 26, 2011 at 12:19 pm

    Hi Jeffrey, I will need to dig in and see what sort of TV contracts the Louisville basketball team has. One thing is for sure: It’s an impressive program.

    I haven’t heard any mumblings about Louisville to the C-USA/MWC “megaconference.” Although, given the BIg East’s football woes, I could understand why teams may consider joining this conference.

    I’ll get to work on a Houston story shortly!

    Reply

  3. Richard

    October 26, 2011 at 4:07 pm

    PJCS actually seats 55K now; It was expanded last year, so the disparity between revenue from FB & BB concessions should rise when this years numbers are considered.

    Reply

  4. Alicia Jessop

    October 26, 2011 at 4:21 pm

    Thanks for the info, Richard. What an awesome facility PJCS is! Louisville definitely has some wonderful facilities which make it a viable candidate for conference realignment.

    Reply

  5. D.A.

    October 31, 2011 at 10:14 pm

    Isn’t the fact that both Louisville venues have made the decision to sell alcohol important when comparing program’s overall event revenue? That decision to sell, especially at the on-campus football stadium, makes a difference.

    Reply

  6. Alper

    November 2, 2011 at 1:37 pm

    Is there a database for all the teams? Where can I get concessions info for Georgia Tech?

    Reply

  7. Alicia Jessop

    November 2, 2011 at 2:28 pm

    I don’t believe there is a database for all teams, but I can get to work on creating one! I’ll find the Georgia Tech info for you, too.

    Reply

  8. Alper

    November 9, 2011 at 10:42 am

    I found it at the USA Today database. Btw I wouldn’t mind helping you with this blog, I like stats&databases. 🙂

    http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/ncaa-finances.htm

    Reply

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  10. Keira

    October 15, 2014 at 3:17 am

    Hey! This post could not be written any better! Reading this
    post reminds me of my old room mate! He always kept talking about this.
    I will forward this write-up to him. Fairly certain he will have a good read.
    Many thanks for sharing!

    Reply

  11. Andrew Lundberg

    November 9, 2015 at 4:47 pm

    Interesting… thanks for the info…

    Reply

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