The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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the year with was slightly higher than what we had planned. It was a good year." The Wolverine: Any ongoing concerns for the department? Brandon: "We have to watch it all really carefully. We're a department that generates around $150 million of revenues, and we're spending most of that on our operating expenses. When you're operating on a fairly small margin, you have to manage it very carefully. If you have a couple of surprises, you can get to the point where your operating margin no lon- ger exists. "We look at the budget every four weeks. We manage it all very care- fully, and we never take anything for granted." The Wolverine: Football revenue pro- vides a large portion of the revenues. What are the battles you're fighting to make sure that revenue stream re- mains strong? Brandon: "The biggest challenge that exists today with football centers around the student sections. As I talk to most of my colleagues around the country, we're all confronting a shift that is occurring with young people who, for the most part, enjoy receiving content digitally. "They all have access to large-screen televisions. The sports networks cover these games really well. One group came in and brought 19 cameras for one football game. They cover it well and make it available, pretty much na- tionally. "Every one of our games is on televi- sion. With the younger demographic, you see a situation where they're more sensitive to the schedule. What are the big games? And, we're competing with television, particularly for that younger demographic. "They're not tailgating. They may not be as interested in connecting with friends and making it the social event it is for a lot of alums. We're finding that their appetite for purchasing sea- son tickets isn't what it once was. That seems to be the case across college football." FINANCES $148,813,000 $138,641,000 $10,172,000 In order, the projected revenues, expenses and operating surplus for the Michigan athletic department for the past fiscal year. $6,300,000 Michigan's licensed merchandise revenue, which ranked third nationally behind Texas and Alabama, according to the Collegiate Licensing Company. $19,490,000 The projected amount of financial aid Michigan provided its 911 stu- dent-athletes on 31 teams over the last fiscal year. $50,120,000 The projected amount of athletic de- partment revenue provided by ticket sales. This was the largest source of revenue for the department.