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Academic Revenue Versus AD Revenue

Posted on 11/17/25 at 7:17 am
Posted by AwgustaDawg
CSRA
Member since Jan 2023
13216 posts
Posted on 11/17/25 at 7:17 am
Some quick research indicates that the University of Florida, as a generic state university which is also athletically successful and the AD is the public face of the university, the same way it is at almost all state universities, drives about $17 billion in revenue in the state from all sources. About $200 million of that is driven by the AD. That is about 1.2% of the revenue driven by the University of Florida. Again, using Florida as representative of a generic state university with a successful AD. At some point in time 1.2% of the source of revenue at a publicly controlled institution making decisions that negatively impacts the public image of the other 98.8% of the institution is going to be reigned in harshly. When you consider that these are institutes of higher learning and mainly ran and managed by people who may not find athletics overly pretty and may actually despise the idea of athletic competition it is not hard to conclude that they will eventually reign in the AD. I know the money is completely independent BUT the image is tied at the hip and damaging that hip by paying a coach a bunch of money to go away is a terrible look publicly.
Posted by tBrand
Member since Oct 2022
2785 posts
Posted on 11/17/25 at 7:19 am to
Posted by aggressor
Austin, TX
Member since Sep 2011
9245 posts
Posted on 11/17/25 at 7:26 am to
I wouldn't call UF a "generic state university" when they are a Top 10 public on pretty much any list you find. That said they do a solid job of balancing the AD and the academics, about as well as anyone. They aren't just a football school by any stretch though. Hell they just won a NC in basketball of and they are consistently strong across multiple sports. They are more of a model because they always put academics first but they definitely get a lot of bang for their buck out of a well funded AD. I have a lot of respect for them.

You also have schools that have been able to use their AD to significantly enhance the academic side of the school by driving applications and raising the profile of the school. The SEC is full of them and that includes Georgia for certain.
Posted by bgator85
Sarasota
Member since Aug 2007
6167 posts
Posted on 11/17/25 at 7:28 am to
quote:

When you consider that these are institutes of higher learning and mainly ran and managed by people who may not find athletics overly pretty and may actually despise the idea of athletic competition it is not hard to conclude that they will eventually reign in the AD. I know the money is completely independent BUT the image is tied at the hip and damaging that hip by paying a coach a bunch of money to go away is a terrible look publicly.


They care about the money coming in, and despite all the football issues of late, the revenue is still flowing. There is nothing to indicate firing football coaches is tarnishing the brand.

Also, the President of the university has sweeping powers as they are also the chair of the UAA (our ath dept). They control the budget, so if its a bad look to be paying the coach all this money, they aren't exactly absolved.
This post was edited on 11/17/25 at 7:30 am
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