UAA approved record budget for Florida Gators athletics

The University of Florida’s Athletic Association approved a $128.2 million dollar budget for the 2017-18. The approval came after the Board of Director’s met on Monday morning.

The $128 million dollar budget is a record-high for the Florida Gators. Most of that budget, $82.5 million (64 percent) will be allocated for football and “football related expenses,” $13.48 million for basketball and $3.19 million for the other 17 sports across the school.

Florida will receive a one-time payment of $6 million dollars for playing Michigan in the AdvoCare Classic on September 2. All of that money will be allocated for the football team, specifically noted as going to enhance the “fan experience.”

Football is the biggest revenue driver for the university, and the UAA’s breakdown of the budget shows that. The Gators’ revenue for football breaks down like this.
• Booster Contributions – $36,760,268
• SEC Revenue (Including SEC Network) – $33,150,000
• Football Tickets – $25,598,594
• Royalties and Sponsorships – $16,290,686
• Other Revenue – $15,775,439
• Student Fees – $2,584,000

The UAA estimates that each scholarship athlete is an annual cost of $62,797. With more than 400 student-athletes on campus that number comes in at more than $29 million going to sever student-athletes with scholarships, academic support, travel, sports medicine and health and equipment.

The revenue is projected to increase about $7 million dollars over the 2016-17 budget. Those projections include an increase in football ticket prices, additional home basketball games after the completion of Exactech Arena’s upgrades, SEC contractual television increases and capital contributions.

Part of the new renovations is the instillation of the 3D projection system at a cost of $350,000. The system, which was used once in 2016-17 (before Florida’s game vs. Kentucky), will be used for select men’s and women’s basketball games this upcoming season. The North and South end zones at Ben Hill Griffin stadium will also receive an upgrade, getting LED ribbons, additional scoreboards will dot the stadium and drink rails will be added in the end zone seating.

The UAA is still raising money for and designing over $100 million of capital projects that include a stand along football facility as well as an expansion to the Pressly Stadium softball complex and a renovation to McKethan Stadium.

Nick de la Torre
A South Florida native, Nick developed a passion for all things sports at a very young age. His love for baseball was solidified when he saw Al Leiter’s no-hitter for the Marlins live in May of 1996. He was able to play baseball in college but quickly realized there isn’t much of a market for short, slow outfielders that hit around the Mendoza line. Wanting to continue with sports in some capacity he studied journalism at the University of Central Florida. Nick got his first start in the business as an intern for a website covering all things related to the NFL draft before spending two seasons covering the Florida football team at Bleacher Report. That job led him to GatorCountry. When he isn’t covering Gator sports, Nick enjoys hitting way too many shots on the golf course, attempting to keep up with his favorite t.v. shows and watching the Heat, Dolphins and Marlins. Follow him on twitter @NickdelatorreGC