Wisconsin’s Athletic Department Budget – Expenses

Last Updated on June 5, 2014

Yesterday, BusinessofCollegeSports.com gave you an exclusive, in-depth look into Wisconsin’s athletic department revenues.  Previously, BusinessofCollegeSports.com reported that per data obtained from the Department of Education, Wisconsin had the 9th highest expenses of all Division I schools.  Randy Marnocha, Wisconsin’s Associate AD for Business Operations graciously provided BusinessofCollegeSports.com with in-depth information about Wisconsin’s expenses for 2010-11.

In 2010-11, Wisconsin had operating expenses of $80,855,012.00 and capital expenses of $3,010,174.00.

The chart below depicts the items making up Wisconsin’s $80,855,012.00 worth of operating expenses.

Operating Expenses	Amount
Salaries & Fringes	$32,919,613.00
Operating Expenses	$28,519,000.00
Debt Services	$10,171,200.00
Financial Aid	$5,506,631.00
Post Season	$3,738,568.00

The following account for the $28,519,000.00 Wisconsin spent on “operating expenses” last year:  Business travel, team travel, recruiting travel, interview/relocation costs, advertising, concessions/catering resales, team meals/catering/housing, guarantees, equipment maitenance and repairs, building/grounds maintenance and repairs, membership dues (Big Ten Conference, etc.), officials, postage/freight, printing, prizes and awards, equipment rentals, space rentals, medical services, police services, professional services, subscriptions, athletic equipment, building and grounds supplies, medical supplies, office supplies, telephone service, and insurance/property tax.

With respect to debt services, the figure shown above includes the total paid off by Wisconsin on various capital projects.  In particular, in 2010-11, Wisconsin paid off $6,723,150.00 on its football stadium, Camp Randall, and $2,571,736 on its basketball and hockey facility, the Kohl Center.

The financial aid amount reflected is composed of the following:  Scholarships, tuition remissions, NCAA Opportunity Fund, NCAA Special Assistance and a continuing education fund.  The largest expenditure in the financial aid section went toward scholarships, for which Wisconsin spent $9,595,562.00 in 2010-11.  Notably, this amount was lower than that which Wisconsin expended on scholarships in 2009-10.  In 2009-10, Wisconsin spent $9,389,828.00 on scholarships.

The following chart depicts Wisconsin’s 2010-11 post season revenues and expenses.  The revenues and expenses are calculated for all of Wisconsin’s teams which participated in their respective 2010-11 post seasons.  Those teams included:  Football, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s hockey, men’s and women’s soccer, softball, men’s and women’s swimming, men’s and women’s tennis, volleyball and wrestling.

Post Season Revenue	$2,579,248.00
Post Season Expenses	$3,738,568.00
TOTAL	($1,159,320.00)

Notably, Wisconsin suffered a loss overall when it came to post season participation in 2010-11.  It should be noted, however, that in 2010-11, Wisconsin received a bowl payout of$2,493,258.00 from the Big Ten Conference.

BusinessofCollegeSports.com would like to extend a gracious “thank you” to Randy Marnocha for his assistance with this series and his generosity with his time.

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