Drop in facility expenses keeps Iowa athletics fiscally sound

IOWA CITY - A $11.1 million drop in facility expenses helped the University of Iowa Athletics Department gain a $3.68 million surplus in fiscal year 2014.

The annual NCAA financial document, of which The Gazette obtained via state open-records laws, shows Iowa athletics earned nearly $106 million in fiscal year 2014, which ended June 30. That's down about $1.2 million (1.1 percent) from the previous year. Iowa's expenses dropped by more than $4.72 million to nearly $102.3 million in 2014.

The funding balance remains with the UI Foundation and National I-Club, according to Rick Klatt, Iowa's associate athletics director for external relations.

After spending nearly $37.4 million on facilities in 2013 - which includes debt service - Iowa spent about $26.3 million last year. In 2013, Iowa paid off the rowing boathouse ($4.8 million), spent $4.8 million as part of the new football operations center and scoreboard project and spent more than $2.2 million combined for golf, track and swimming facilities. Iowa did not incur those same expenses in 2014.

'Given things like cost of attendance and student-athlete meals, we have new expenses to be concerned about in the coming years,” Klatt said. 'It's not as if we don't have places to put additional revenue and, of course, keeping up with the competition relative to facilities and team travel.”

The biggest revenue drop for Iowa came in 'other” revenues category. Iowa earned about $3.06 million in fiscal 2014, around $4 million less than in 2013. That year, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics spent $3.461 million to compensate athletics for razing 'The Bubble,” which was categorized as 'other.”

Here are other financial categories of note:

Contributions.

The athletics department raised more than $30 million in donations for the second consecutive fiscal year. In 2014, Iowa received about $215,600 less than in 2013 but was statistically flat (down 0.7 percent).

Ticket revenues.

Iowa's overall ticket revenues dipped slightly (0.8 percent). Football ticket revenue fell from $21.65 million (2012 football season) to $21.04 million (2013 season). Men's basketball ticket revenue grew from $3.47 million in 2013 to more than $3.8 million in 2014. Wrestling ticket revenue jumped nearly $75,000 up to $670,385.

Guarantees.

Iowa received less than $300,000 after earning $1.412 million in fiscal 2013. During the 2013 fiscal year, Iowa football received $1.259 million in a one-time guarantee to play Northern Illinois at Chicago's Soldier Field.

NCAA/Big Ten.

Iowa received nearly $29 million, a year-over-year increase of more than $3.5 million.

Recruiting expenses.

Iowa spent $1.32 million in recruiting, slightly higher than $1.275 million in 2013. Football totaled $347,035, down from the school-record $477,455 spent in fiscal 2013. Men's basketball, however, spent $291,811, up from $208,546.

Travel expenses.

The department's travel costs grew by more than 36 percent. Iowa spent nearly $6.6 million on athletics travel, and football's travel costs jumped to nearly $2.1 million. Travel costs associated with the Outback Bowl trip alone was $1.59 million. In fiscal year 2013, when the program did not compete in a bowl game, football's travel costs were $701,651. But the expenses are comparable to previous years, when Iowa football spent $1.825 million in fiscal 2012 and $1.8 million in 2011.

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