Michigan Athletics Presents Fiscal 2016 Budget to Regents
6/18/2015 12:00:00 AM | General
June 18, 2015
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan Athletic Department presented a balanced budget based on operating revenues of $153.6 million and operating expenses of $153.6 million to the Board of Regents for the 2015-16 fiscal year, announced Thursday (June 18) during the monthly meeting of the University's leadership.
Highlights of the projected 2015-16 operating budget are as follows:
- Football season ticket prices remain unchanged for the public for a second year
- Student football season ticket prices will be reduced by 37.5 percent in addition to offering need-based discounts based on federal Pell Grant eligibility in football, men's basketball and ice hockey.
- Similar to fiscal year 2015, the FY16 budget reflects a seven-game home football schedule.
- Budgeted conference distributions are projected to increase to $34.7M from $32.0M budgeted in FY15.
- Premium seating areas are sold out at Crisler Center and nearly sold out at Michigan Stadium.
- Facility revenues decreased year-over-year because of no planned special event rentals in FY16.
- Total operating expenses budgeted for FY16 increase by 0.4 percent from the projected actual operating expenses in FY15.
- The athletic department will make a $5 million transfer to a deferred maintenance fund compared to $5 million in FY15 and $4.75 million in FY14. The deferred maintenance fund is used as a means to provide for major repair and rehabilitation projects for athletic facilities. The athletic department expects to set aside additional funds in future years for this purpose.
Based on preliminary results, the athletic department currently projects a $7.9 million operating deficit for fiscal year 2015. The operating deficit will be offset by operating reserves. The unfavorable operating outcome is primarily due to lower than budgeted spectator admissions, higher than budgeted compensation costs and an unbudgeted increase in food costs following new NCAA regulations for student-athlete nutrition and support.
"Finances can change very quickly and, as we have seen this year, we are not immune to the inherent risks of guiding a large intercollegiate athletic program," said Jim Hackett, interim director of athletics. "This is an interesting time for college athletics and we are committed to providing an exemplary student experience. I wish to thank our alumni and fans who join in that commitment in order to ensure that the University of Michigan remains a special place."
During the 2014-15 academic year, Michigan was the only school to achieve exemplary Academic Progress Rate (APR) marks from the NCAA in football (above 990), men's basketball (995 and above) and women's basketball (995 and above). Additionally, all 14 U-M men's varsity athletic teams recorded perfect scores while 10 of the 15 women's varsity teams also earned perfect scores.
Further, Michigan is the only Big Ten Conference institution to earn NCAA Public Recognition Awards in both football and men's basketball, with men's basketball now having earned the award in four straight years. U-M set an institutional record in 2014-15 with 10 Public Recognition Awards for ranking among the top 10 percent of their respective sports in the most recent multi-year APR report.
A total of 28 student-athletes earned first-team All-America honors during the year. Michigan had 39 student-athletes earn All-Big Ten first team honors with 25 student-athletes winning individual conference titles.
A total of 260 student-athletes were named Academic All-Big Ten Conference compared to 235 in 2013-14. Men's swimmer Justin Glanda (business administration) and women's basketball student Nicole Elmblad (biopsychology, cognition and neuroscience) were U-M's recipients of the Big Ten Medal of Honor.
Michigan had six individuals claim Academic All-America honors -- Glanda (4.04 GPA), Elmblad (3.95), Zach Hyman (3.78 | history | ice hockey), Kelly Christner (3.34 | movement science | softball), Richard Funk (3.5 | neuroscience | swimming) and Sammy Gray (4.0 | kinesiology | field hockey).
In the community, Michigan student-athletes worked in collaboration with numerous local non-profit organizations. A few of the student-led initiatives included the weekly visits from students with patients at C.S. Mott Children's Hospital, MSHARE visits to local elementary schools, Michigan Buddies mentoring program within the Ann Arbor Public School System, Lunch with a Wolverine for elementary school children, and Adopt-A-Classroom for providing positive role models.
The Wolverines recorded top-10 finishes in the Directors' Cup standings in women's gymnastics (7), men's gymnastics (4), women's rowing (10), softball (2), men's swimming & diving (3) and women's tennis (9) in addition to six other top-25 finishes.
At the Big Ten level, Michigan claimed conference championships in five sports -- women's gymnastics, softball, men's swimming and diving, and women's tennis. Michigan also won league tournament titles in baseball, softball and women's tennis in addition to a women's gymnastics regular-season title.
Contact: Kurt Svoboda (734) 615-0331
