The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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for their understanding, as we go through this process of trying to define what we need to do to ensure we continue to provide the same, or even a greater, level of opportunity for our student-athletes and our fans, going forward for the next century." It didn't take a century for Michigan's athletic department budget to nearly triple. It required only 13 years. U-M projects an athletic department budget in the coming year of $146,420,000 in revenues and $137,471,000 in expenses. It has put into place measures such as premium seating in high-profile sports, as well as personal seat donations, and notes it was late to the game in doing so. Michigan isn't at the top of the list, in terms of the budget bottom line. USA Today recently cited the University of Texas at the top of that revenue heap, at $163,295,115. It showed a dozen other programs generating in excess of $100 million in revenue, with Ohio State a distant second, at $142,043,057, followed by Michigan ($140,131,187), Alabama ($124,899,940), Florida ($120,772,105), Texas A&M ($119,702,222), LSU ($114,787.786), Penn State ($108,252,281), Oklahoma ($106,456,616), Auburn ($105,951,251), Wisconsin (103,803,040), Tennessee ($102,884,286) and Florida State ($100,049,444). Of Michigan, the article noted: "Since 2009, Michigan's revenue has grown by nearly $45 million. During this period, Michigan's annual operating surplus — the amount by which the revenue generated from athletics each year has exceeded the program's expenses — has more than doubled." Former U-M director of athletics Bill Martin was determined to turn around the red ink he inherited from the late 1990s, and oversaw the moves toward maximizing revenue, particularly through football. Martin pointed toward Michigan's aging and in some cases outdated facilities, and put in place a plan to turn that around. Brandon has continued along that path, and even ramped it up in terms of plans for upgraded facilities across the board. He cautions, though, that added revenue isn't just about building newer and better buildings, or paying athletic department salaries. The cost of covering the education of student-athletes continues to rise, he indicated. "Our academic financial aid package for our scholarships for our student-athletes, this year, is close to $20 million," Brandon said. To be precise, Michigan lists its financial aid to students at a projected $18,348,000 for fiscal year 2012-13, and projects it at $19,690,000 for the coming fiscal year. That represents the third-biggest item on the expense roster. Salaries, wages and benefits for athletic department personnel requires the largest portion of the expenses, a projected $44,145,000 for the fiscal year just ended and $48,834,000 for the coming year. Team and game expenses cost a projected $19,328,000 in the year just past, and that category jumps to a projected $22,033,000 for 2013-14. After financial aid to students, the top projected expense categories for the coming year are: other operating and admin-