Iowa projects $3 million drop in football income

IOWA CITY - Iowa projects a decrease of nearly $3 million in football-related income for fiscal year 2016 because of slow ticket sales, according to figures supplied by the department to the state Board of Regents.

The athletics department's conservative budget of $19.55 million in ticket revenue is down from last year's $22.4 million earned from football tickets. The last time Iowa brought in less than $20 million in ticket sales was the 2007 season.

In fiscal year 2013, Iowa reported $26.1 million in football ticket revenue to the NCAA, according to documents obtained by The Gazette. In fiscal 2014, Iowa reported $25.9 million.

Iowa sold 39,364 general public season tickets last year. As of last week, Iowa sold 36,036 for this year.

With the increased cost of providing full meals for student-athletes, Iowa budgeted $21.59 million in football-related expenses. To counter the shortfall, the UI Foundation will boost support for athletics from $11.7 million to $14.46 million this year.

With cost of attendance now figured into athletic scholarships, Iowa's athletics department budget jumped to $93.6 million for fiscal year 2016.

Annual cost of attendance stipends range from $2,051 to $3,305 per athlete for the upcoming year, costing the department an estimated $880,000. Overall scholarships expect to jump to $12.2 million, up from $11 million in 2015.

Iowa's overall budget increases by nearly $4 million more than 2015. The athletics department projects $33.5 million from Big Ten coffers, up from about $31 million last year.

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