No university athletic department makes more money than the University of Texas.
Despite a basketball team that failed to make the NCAA tournament and a football team that has struggled in recent years, the athletic department took in $163.3 million in revenue last year according to data collected by USAToday.com.
Piecing together information collected by USAToday.com as well as BusinessofCollegeSports.com and other sources, we can get a better sense of where all that money comes from and how the school spends it.
It is an eye-opening look into the world of big-time college sports and the millions it generates.
The football and men's basketball teams account for approximately 70% of the athletic department's revenue
Total athletic department revenue: $163.3 million
Football team revenue*: $95.7 million (59%)
Men's basketball team revenue*: $16.4 million (10%)
* Based on 2011 data collected by the BusinessofCollegeSports. Was likely slightly greater in 2012.
More than one-third of the revenue comes from ticket sales
Total athletic department revenue: $163.3 million
Ticket sales: $59.2 million (36%)
The Texas football team had six home games in 2012 (most other big schools have 7-8) and sold 605,304 tickets acording to the NCAA. The average attendance of 100,884 was fourth among all FBS (Division I) schools. The men's basketball team had 16 home games and sold 175,116 tickets, averaging 10,945 per game.
One-third of the revenue comes from television contracts and other licensing deals
Total athletic department revenue: $163.3 million
Rights and licensing deals: $53.9 million (33%)
A large chunk of this revenue comes from television broadcast rights. Texas has an exclusive deal with The Longhorn Network and ESPN that pays the school $15 million per year over 20 years. In addition, the school also takes in another $6 million from the Big 12 conference's contract with ESPN and $8.5 million from the conference's deal with Fox Sports.
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