The Numbers In College Golf

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Hey Golfers —

Division I athletic departments have seen significant increases in revenue over the last decade.

Power Five median athletic department revenue has increased from $84 million in 2014 to $139 million in 2022 — an increase of 65%. For perspective — inflation grew 24% in the same period.

The NCAA breaks Division I athletics programs into four categories.

• Power Five

• Group of Five

• DI FCS

• DI Subdivision

And it wasn’t just the Power Five universities that saw their athletic revenue increase — it was all of them.

Here is a look at the other three revenue growth percentages from 2014 to 2022.

• Group of Five — 41%

• DI FCS — 47%

• DI Subdivision — 38%

Where does the revenue come from?

Let’s look at the Power Five programs. They categorize revenue into eight different buckets. Here are the top three and the percentage of total revenue.

• Media rights — 35%

• Donors and endowments — 24%

• Ticket sales — 17%

The remaining 24% is revenue in the form of licensing, student fees, government support, etc.

The revenue makeup of the other three Division I categories is much different.

One interesting trend is the institution and government support revenue percentage.

• Group of Five — 40%

• DI FCS — 58%

• DI Subdivision — 64%

NCAA Division II athletic department revenue is primarily generated from government support at nearly 80%.

Where does college golf fit in all of this? 

In 2019 — the median revenue for a men’s college golf program was anywhere from $165,000 to $212,000, depending on the category.

• Power Five — $212,000

• Group of Five — $165,000

• DI FCS — $202,000

• DI Subdivision — $200,000

Let’s poke around at the top ten teams in the country.

All top ten programs in NCAA Division I rankings are Power Five Schools. The highest non-Power Five ranking is East Tennessee State at 14. Only four non-Power Five programs currently are ranked inside the top 25.

While money doesn’t guarantee success — there is a correlation between median expenses and the current rankings. In 2019 — the median expense of a Power Five men’s college golf program was $946,000.

Here is a look at the median expenses of men’s college golf programs.

• Power Five — $946,000

• Group of Five — $471,000

• DI FCS — $266,000

• DI Subdivision — $288,000

While the revenue was relatively consistent across the four categories — expenses were not. Power Five programs have larger athletic department budgets — allowing them to have larger golf budgets than the other three categories.

Millions of dollars are spent on college golf facilities. Alabama announced a proposed $26.8 million golf facility — a massive amount for college athletics.

North Carolina unveiled a $13.5 million upgrade to its golf course and team facilities. Just last year, Vanderbilt announced an $11 million renovation to its college golf facility. Arizona State and Washington spent $10 million and $8 million on their facilities, respectively.

And Arizona is currently building a $15 million golf facility.

It is important to note that donors primarily fund these projects. They aren’t coming from the general fund or the athletics department budget.

Which is a necessity for college golf. While they technically generate revenue — a golf team rarely generates a profit.

Getting back to the top ten men’s golf programs in the country. Below is a review of North Carolina from a revenue and expense standpoint.

• Revenue — $417,000

• Expenses — $1,111,000

• Net Loss — $694,000

While that is a look at just one program — it isn’t uncommon to see similar numbers in other programs around the country.

College golf coaches are paid well but aren’t signing multi-million dollar contracts seen in other college sports.

Of the top ten programs in the country — the most a coach makes per year is $285,000.

Millions are spent on college golf — which is ironic because teams don’t generate a profit. But the money that is being spent is mostly coming from donors.

The money will continue to pour in from donors in the coming years. We will continue to see new facilities being built that are larger and more advanced than the last one.

Have yourself a great Monday. Talk to you next week!

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