Monticello Live

Athletic spending by Arkansas colleges and universities went up 4 percent last year, from about $100.6 million to $105 million.

A large majority of athletic expenditures were by the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, which spent $59.8 million.

Arkansas State University at Jonesboro was a distant second, with $10.8 million in athletic spending. The University of Central Arkansas at Conway was third, spending $7.6 million last year on athletic programs. Next came the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, which spent $6.2 million, and the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, which spent $6 million on athletics.

Rounding out the list were Arkansas Tech at Russellville, $3.5 million; Henderson State University at Arkadelphia, $2.9 million; Southern Arkansas University at Magnolia, $2.7 million; the University of Arkansas at Monticello, $2.6 million and the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith, $2.55 million.

Two-year colleges spent a total of $285,158 altogether. There are 22 two-year colleges in Arkansas.

The state Higher Education Department submitted information about athletic spending to legislative auditors last week. The financial report is for the 2008-2009 school year.

The University of Arkansas at Fayetteville brought in much more revenue from its athletic program than any other institution, thanks to the statewide popularity of the Razorbacks.

Ticket sales for Razorback games brought in $27.4 million. Sales of concessions and programs brought in $3.4 million. Private gifts and donations from the Razorback Foundation brought in $5.3 million.

Razorback sports brought in $14.7 million in revenue from media, tournament and bowl receipts. Other income, such as the licensing of the Razorback trademark and parking fees, totaled $8.8 million.

ASU at Jonesboro reported $995,000 in ticket sales, $110,000 in concession sales, $2.7 million from student fees and $1.3 million in other income. Also, the Red Wolves program received $1.9 million in game guarantees.

A line item in the expense column is for medical insurance and injury claims. Fayetteville spent more than any other institution by far, at $400,000 last year. Arkansas Tech was second with $261,000 in health insurance and injury claims. Third was Monticello at $173,000. ASU spent $22,736 in health insurance and medical claims.

Several institutions reported no expenses at all for debt service. They are ASU, UALR, Henderson State and Fort Smith.

Fayetteville paid $7 million in debt service, while UAPB paid $890,000, UCA paid $414,000 and Arkansas Tech paid $269,000.

In 1997 athletic spending by Arkansas universities was $39 million, with the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville accounting for $21.7 million of the total. ASU spent $6 million, UALR spent $2.5 million, UCA spent $2 million and UAPB spent $2 million.

Arkansas Tech and Henderson each spent $1.4 million. SAU at Magnolia spent $1.1 million and the university at Monticello spent $810,000.

This entry was posted on Saturday, November 21st, 2009 at 4:28 am and is filed under State Capitol Report. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.