By Last Updated on January 30, 2013
ESPN sports business reporter Kristi Dosh (who also happens to be BusinessofCollegeSports.com’s founder) had a piece yesterday giving some perspective to University of Tennessee’s financial situation. One of the points she makes is that Tennessee’s outstanding debt on athletic facilities isn’t out of line with the rest of the SEC.
Here’s a look at outstanding facilities debt at each SEC school and the annual debt service (payments) for the 2010-2011 school year (the most recent available). All information is from NCAA financial disclosures. Vanderbilt’s information is not available via public records requests.
2010-2011 SEC Athletics Debt
| School | Outstanding Athletics Debt | Athletics Annual Debt Service |
| Alabama | $207.2 million | $13.3 million |
| Louisiana State | $202.0 million | $13.5 million |
| Tennessee | $188.1 million | $7.7 million |
| Georgia | $120.8 million | $7.9 million |
| South Carolina | $112.9 million | $3.5 million |
| Auburn | $106.1 million | $10.1 million |
| Florida | $80.8 million | $5.8 million |
| Arkansas | $64.1 million | $7.3 million |
| Texas A&M | $45.8 million | $6.6 million |
| Mississippi | $41.8 million | $4.6 million |
| Missouri | $26.8 million | $3.1 million |
| Mississippi State | $24.8 million | $2.3 million |
| Kentucky | $18.7 million | $2.7 million |
As Dosh points out in her article, this isn’t a true apples to apples comparison. For example, she notes Kentucky carries no debt on Rupp Arena, because it’s owned by the city. Check out her piece for more information.
Documents obtained from University of Tennessee show its football season ticket base has dropped by approximately 10,000 people since 2009. However, net revenue (profit) from football remains above average amongst other SEC members:
Football Net Revenue 2010-2011
| Georgia | $52.9 million |
| Arkansas | $47.1 million |
| Alabama | $46.5 million |
| Florida | $43.2 million |
| Auburn | $40.2 million |
| Tennessee | $37.5 million |
| South Carolina | $35.4 million |
| LSU | $31.7 million |
| Texas A&M* | $30.0 million |
| Kentucky | $20.3 million |
| Mississippi | $10.8 million |
| Mississippi State | $10.8 million |
| Missouri* | $9.7 million |
*Texas A&M and Missouri were not yet members of the SEC in 2010-2011
The real issue, as noted in Dosh’s article, is the limited reserves Tennessee athletics currently has on hand: $1.95 million. That is one area not in line with other SEC schools, as AD Dave Hart notes in Dosh’s piece.
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