USA Today released its annual report regarding revenue and expenses for 232 NCAA Division I athletics programs, including HBCUs.
Among Black Colleges, Southern leads the way with $18,190,798 followed by North Carolina A&T at $16,372,030. Next up was Delaware State University with $16,211,290, Norfolk State University bringing in $15,929,886, and Tennessee State with $15,883,556.
The leading SWAC institution was Alabama State, which brought in $14,550,273.
Two important things to note about this report – private institutions, such as Howard and Hampton, are not required to submit budgets to their respective states or municipalities, which is why they don’t appear on the list.
Also, the allocation percentage is how much of that school’s revenue comes from government and institutional support and student fees.
For example, 92 percent of Delaware State’s revenue comes from allocated sources, such as state funding, university budget, and student fees, the most for any D-1 HBCU. The lowest allocation percentage belongs to Arkansas-Pine Bluff, with 50.83 percent of its revenue ($8,650,669 in total) coming from allocated sources.
What does this all mean? HBCU sports at a Division I level are still fighting an uphill battle regarding resources, facilities, budgeting and more.
The University of California-Davis ranks the highest in total revenue among FCS schools at $44,275,782. With 80 percent of that being allocated money, they’re still finding close to $9 million in funding elsewhere. That, of course, is more than Arkansas-Pine Bluff’s overall revenue for the year.
While the numbers are better than in years past, there is still room for improvement. What it will take for that to happen is a concerted effort among Black College administrators, athletic departments, marketing organizations, and student organizations to build resources that can offset what little help HBCUs get from federal, state, and local government.
HBCUs have been a hot topic of conversation in recent years, and now is the time for each institution to strike while the iron is still burning in deciding which way our athletics programs will go.
Competing with FCS-level schools is hard enough without adding in the astronomical numbers from FBS/Power 5 schools – Ohio State is the national champion with $251,615,345 for the record.
Money talks; we all know what walks, and USA Today’s report shows that there should be a lot of work done along with talking to elevate HBCU sports to a financially competitive level in the D-1 landscape.
