This is not what you think. We're not here to complain. We're using it to make a point.
Card Chronicle had a link today to a story about how Louisville was the most profitable college basketball program in the country. (We don't know what year this is for, but we're guessing it's for 2008-09.) The article talks about how schools use accounting tricks that wouldn't pass muster with GAAP to tweak the profitability numbers, so out of respect for USF's top-flight School of Accountancy, we won't look at those.
Just on straight revenue, though, USF ranked 16th out of 16 in the BIG EAST:
- Louisville - $25,494,904
- Syracuse - $16,817,122
- Marquette - $13,446,395
- Pittsburgh - $11,100,032
- Georgetown - $9,700,309
- West Virginia - $9,632,187
- Connecticut - $8,379,899
- Villanova - $7,155,812
- Providence - $6,082,595
- Seton Hall - $5,200,805
- Cincinnati - $5,104,730
- Rutgers - $4,772,797
- St. John's - $4,729,555
- Notre Dame - $3,418,263
- DePaul - $3,257,409
- South Florida - $3,095,064
Now, like we said, this is not what you think.
We're guessing the numbers are a little bit better for USF in 2009-10, but not that much better. It's likely that the program remains at or near the bottom of basketball revenue. But here's our point. Revenue is the most significant challenge USF athletics has. It's another downside to being a young and growing school - there aren't tens of thousands of donors, and just about every wealthy alumnus USF has ever had is still alive. Really, our fundraisers have done a fantastic job even getting us this far. If you ever worry about how we can't afford big-time coaches (not that we need them), or if the assistant coach salary pools aren't big enough for you, or if you want more shiny new facilities (thankfully we're getting several of them), or better marketing or more stuff on the Web, please remember this. Money isn't a cure-all, but it really helps.
Oh, and we're getting to the point where being a donor is almost a requirement if you want road football tickets, or if you want season tickets that aren't in the nosebleed sections. So there's something in it for you too. Hell, we live 1000 miles away from Tampa, we have no plans to move back, there's pretty much nothing in it for us, and we still donate. If you have the means, we highly recommend it. And for the times that link isn't working, call 813-974-3481.