Ironically enough after I wrote that blog about Mack Brown's salary bump ESPN The Magazine ran a story detailing the amount of money college athletic programs bring. My claim that the athletic department brings in over $80 million is probably a bit high. According to the story last year the Texas football program brought in the most revenue and was also the most profitable bringing in $53.2 million in revenue of which $38.7 million was profit. While I knew the revenue was in that ballpark I didn't think the profit was anywhere near that high. Again, going back to Mack's salary of less than $3 million dollars. The greatest ambassador to our university comes in and turns a profit of $38.7 million dollars and people bitch that he gets $2.5 million. I find that humorous.
But looking at those numbers I started thinking what business turns $53.2mm in revenue into $38.7mm in profit. Granted 85(NCAA football scholarship limit) of those "employees" are only getting "paid" about $17,000 a year and another 30 or so are paying their own way. A profit margin of over 70% thats insane.
Comparing Texas Football to other leaders in their respective markets…
| Revenue | Profit | Profit Margin % | ||||
| College Football | Texas | 53.2 | M | 38.7 | M | 72.7 |
| Banking | Citigroup | 108.3 | B | 17 | B | 15.7 |
| Energy | Exxon Mobil | 298 | B | 25.3 | B | 8.4 |
| Computer | Dell | 49 | B | 3 | B | 6.1 |
| Automotive | GM | 193 | B | 2.8 | B | 1.4 |
| Airlines | American Airlines | 18.6 | B | -7.6 | B | -40.8 |
Now Texas Football is dealing in the millions while these other companies are all dealing in the billions, their efficiency in turning profit is unparalleled. And that was from last year. You have to think that this year the numbers are going to be even more phenomenal.
-hj
