UCF collects the most athletic fees in NCAA

UCF has the largest collection of student athletic fees in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, according to an online database released by ESPN Dec. 17.

The database details the “arms race” college athletics progams go through in order to earn money for their programs and the ways in which they spend it.

UCF students paid a total of $14,608,022 in fees to the UCF athletic department over the course of the 2008-09 year. For the 2009-10 period, UCF students paid a $12.68 fee per credit hour.

“The reason we’re the largest is because we have the third largest enrollment in the country,” said David Chambers, executive associate athletic director at UCF. “The biggest thing is to look at the individual student.”

The large amount of money comes from such a large number of students paying an otherwise normal fee.

When looking at just the per-individual fee among other public universities in the state, UCF is the fourth behind Florida Atlantic University with $14.30 per credit hour, the University of West Florida with $14.22 per credit hour, Florida International University with $14.51 per credit and ahead of the University of South Florida, which charged $11.76 per credit hour.

Both FIU and USF charge a $10 flat per-student fee per term in addition to their per credit fee.

Comparing UCF to other institutions with high enrollment shows the most noticeable difference in how athletic programs are run.

Institutions like Ohio State, Arizona State, Penn State, Texas and Michigan State have football teams with large, dedicated followings that have other ways of earning money.

“It is not a fair comparison to compare UCF to Texas, Florida or Ohio State,” Brad Stricklin, associate athletics director and chief financial officer at UCF, said. “They have a much more established alumni base. They’re wealthier because they have the legacies.”
College football has become a billion dollar business evident of the television deal the Southeastern Conference signed with ESPN and CBS in 2008. According to the Sports Business Journal, the deal is worth $2.25 billion over a 15-year period.

“When you look at baseline level, in order to be competitive and run a Division I program, there is funding and the resources that are necessary in order to compete,” Chambers said. “Because we lack the conference distribution that the BCS schools get, student fee funding is critical for us. It keeps us in the game. It gives us the ability to have a future in college athletics at the highest level.”

Chambers said student fees are the lifeblood for UCF Athletics. Without the aid of student fees, the Knights could be competing at the I-AA or Division II level.

This year, C-USA distributed roughly $2 million among its members, while the Big East distributed roughly $6 million and the ACC allocated about $8 million, according to Stricklin.

The Big Ten and the SEC are on a different lucrative level, ranging from $12-18 million. Both have network deals and each school in the SEC could get as much as $15 million a year.

Chambers said that without fees, the athletics department would run on a $15 million budget and break even, hoping to make the tournament once every 10 years.

Chambers said that the large number of students who attend UCF helps the athletics department benefit from the money received and still be at competitive level with other “non-BCS” schools.

The student fees go toward funding student-athletes’ scholarships and athletic operations. Chambers said that none of the money goes toward salaries or paying off debt.

“We look at our budget, we look at how much are scholarships, how much are support operations,” Chambers said.

The 2.5 percent increase that athletics asked for recently was to keep in-line with the increase in the cost of living, Stricklin said.

Chambers added that the athletic department is hoping to get to a point where it can keep the athletic fee a constant amount and eventually reduce the fee as the program grows.

“I can envision that at some point,” Chambers said about lowering the fees. “But right now we’re just trying to keep up and stay competitive.”

So the moral of the story is our fees are pretty normal but our school is the #3 largest in the country which makes our total collection the highest.

FYI - We are the largest non-BCS school. It would be sure nice of we got a free extra $4 million dollar check to add athletics from the BCS.

ACC and Big East money seems pretty close ($6 mil to $8 mil). Wasn't aware that it was that close.

(01-22-2010 11:02 PM)Orange Eagles Wrote:  ACC and Big East money seems pretty close ($6 mil to $8 mil). Wasn't aware that it was that close.

It probably helps that your money is only split 8 ways.

If you say 6 vs 8 it sounds pretty close. but if you figure it in % it isnt very close. 33% more per team.

Your math sucks, dude. 6 to 8 equates to 25% more per team. 3 times 2 equals 6, and 4 times 2 equals 8. 3/4 equals 75%...

(01-23-2010 09:50 AM)goodknightfl Wrote:  If you say 6 vs 8 it sounds pretty close. but if you figure it in % it isnt very close. 33% more per team.

Huh?

Quote:This year, C-USA distributed roughly $2 million among its members, while the Big East distributed roughly $6 million and the ACC allocated about $8 million, according to Stricklin.

The Big Ten and the SEC are on a different lucrative level, ranging from $12-18 million. Both have network deals and each school in the SEC could get as much as $15 million a year.

This is exactly why the Big East football schools need to consider splitting and then expanding. We have to get our revenue up in the 10 million per school range, and the only way we can do that is to improve our football television deal.

(01-23-2010 11:15 AM)CatsClaw Wrote:  

(01-23-2010 09:50 AM)goodknightfl Wrote:  If you say 6 vs 8 it sounds pretty close. but if you figure it in % it isnt very close. 33% more per team.

Huh?

We'll work on the math later!

(01-23-2010 11:17 AM)CatsClaw Wrote:  

Quote:This year, C-USA distributed roughly $2 million among its members, while the Big East distributed roughly $6 million and the ACC allocated about $8 million, according to Stricklin.

The Big Ten and the SEC are on a different lucrative level, ranging from $12-18 million. Both have network deals and each school in the SEC could get as much as $15 million a year.

This is exactly why the Big East football schools need to consider splitting and then expanding. We have to get our revenue up in the 10 million per school range, and the only way we can do that is to improve our football television deal.

Being that the acc is now at around $10 million per school, and all of the other bcs leagues either will be well over that when they sign new contracts or they are already over that, the BE has to get a deal that will allow our programs to recieve more than $12 million per year just to stay in the general vicinity of leagues like the Acc and Big 12 and the Pac 10. The Acc will probably be around $12 million per school once they renegotiate their new tv deal.

(01-23-2010 03:06 PM)cuseroc Wrote:  

(01-23-2010 11:17 AM)CatsClaw Wrote:  

Quote:This year, C-USA distributed roughly $2 million among its members, while the Big East distributed roughly $6 million and the ACC allocated about $8 million, according to Stricklin.

The Big Ten and the SEC are on a different lucrative level, ranging from $12-18 million. Both have network deals and each school in the SEC could get as much as $15 million a year.

This is exactly why the Big East football schools need to consider splitting and then expanding. We have to get our revenue up in the 10 million per school range, and the only way we can do that is to improve our football television deal.

Being that the acc is now at around $10 million per school, and all of the other bcs leagues either will be well over that when they sign new contracts or they are already over that, the BE has to get a deal that will allow our programs to recieve more than $12 million per year just to stay in the general vicinity of leagues like the Acc and Big 12 and the Pac 10. The Acc will probably be around $12 million per school once they renegotiate their new tv deal.

The million dollar question is then, who brings tangible football credentials that would add value to a television contract? Does anyone that is legitimately available?

(01-23-2010 03:50 PM)CollegeCard Wrote:  

(01-23-2010 03:06 PM)cuseroc Wrote:  

(01-23-2010 11:17 AM)CatsClaw Wrote:  

Quote:This year, C-USA distributed roughly $2 million among its members, while the Big East distributed roughly $6 million and the ACC allocated about $8 million, according to Stricklin.

The Big Ten and the SEC are on a different lucrative level, ranging from $12-18 million. Both have network deals and each school in the SEC could get as much as $15 million a year.

This is exactly why the Big East football schools need to consider splitting and then expanding. We have to get our revenue up in the 10 million per school range, and the only way we can do that is to improve our football television deal.

Being that the acc is now at around $10 million per school, and all of the other bcs leagues either will be well over that when they sign new contracts or they are already over that, the BE has to get a deal that will allow our programs to recieve more than $12 million per year just to stay in the general vicinity of leagues like the Acc and Big 12 and the Pac 10. The Acc will probably be around $12 million per school once they renegotiate their new tv deal.

The million dollar question is then, who brings tangible football credentials that would add value to a television contract? Does anyone that is legitimately available?

I really dont think that we need another program to get us in that revenue area. Remember that the last tv contract that it doubled the previous fb contract and more than doubled the previous bb contract. Mike tranghese said back then that basically the league was more interested in the exposure of a new tv contract than revenue at that time and that the next deal will be more representative of what the BE is worth.

(01-23-2010 01:28 PM)CollegeCard Wrote:  

(01-23-2010 11:15 AM)CatsClaw Wrote:  

(01-23-2010 09:50 AM)goodknightfl Wrote:  If you say 6 vs 8 it sounds pretty close. but if you figure it in % it isnt very close. 33% more per team.

Huh?

We'll work on the math later!

Before this turns ugly...

Each ACC team makes $8MM, or $2MM above each Big East team, which makes $6MM. $2MM is 33% of the $6MM each Big East team makes, so one way to describe it is the way goodknightfl did.

USFFan