ColonelSteve
11-13-2012, 04:46 PM
Joker Phillips said when he walked out on the field in Kentucky’s last home football game against Vanderbilt and saw the crowd of less than 20,000 people, he knew his fate was sealed. It wasn’t just about lost fan enthusiasm for the program, but also (and likely more so) about lost revenue. So just how much has UK lost during this 1-9 season?
Through an open-records request, The Courier-Journal has learned that, albeit with one home game against Samford remaining, football revenues – including tickets, parking and K-Fund donations, but excluding concessions – are down from $22.7 million in 2010 to $17.8 million this season. The school does not have 2012 concessions numbers, but one can assume a drop there, too.
Consider that concessions sales dropped from $1.65 million in 2009 to $1.24 million in 2011 – and that average announced attendance this fall is down 9,826 per game from last season. Actual attendance is far worse. As the Herald-Leader first reported, UK’s average actual attendance (tickets scanned) is 32,915 this season (more than 18,000 a game less than the announced numbers).
Viewed in this strictly financial light, it’s not hard to see why athletic director Mitch Barnhart had to make a move. Losing more than $5 million of revenue from your department’s cash cow in a single season is a hit few schools would tolerate. That’s roughly equivalent to John Calipari’s annual salary – or nearly three times Phillips’ salary.
Here’s the raw data the C-J received from the University of Kentucky:
UK FOOTBALL CONCESSION SALES
2009 – Total concessions sales: $1,646,955.59. Average per-game concessions sales: $235,566.51.
2010 – Total concessions sales: $1,554,037.54. Average per-game concessions sales: $222,005.36.
2011 – Total concessions sales: $1,239,116.79. Average per-game concessions sales: $177,016.68.
UK FOOTBALL REVENUE (from tickets, parking, K-Fund donations)
2010 – $22.7 million
2011 – $22.0 million
2012 – $17.8 million*
* Still one home game left in 2012.
http://blogs.courier-journal.com/ukbeat/2012/11/13/how-much-has-2012-cost-uk-football/
Through an open-records request, The Courier-Journal has learned that, albeit with one home game against Samford remaining, football revenues – including tickets, parking and K-Fund donations, but excluding concessions – are down from $22.7 million in 2010 to $17.8 million this season. The school does not have 2012 concessions numbers, but one can assume a drop there, too.
Consider that concessions sales dropped from $1.65 million in 2009 to $1.24 million in 2011 – and that average announced attendance this fall is down 9,826 per game from last season. Actual attendance is far worse. As the Herald-Leader first reported, UK’s average actual attendance (tickets scanned) is 32,915 this season (more than 18,000 a game less than the announced numbers).
Viewed in this strictly financial light, it’s not hard to see why athletic director Mitch Barnhart had to make a move. Losing more than $5 million of revenue from your department’s cash cow in a single season is a hit few schools would tolerate. That’s roughly equivalent to John Calipari’s annual salary – or nearly three times Phillips’ salary.
Here’s the raw data the C-J received from the University of Kentucky:
UK FOOTBALL CONCESSION SALES
2009 – Total concessions sales: $1,646,955.59. Average per-game concessions sales: $235,566.51.
2010 – Total concessions sales: $1,554,037.54. Average per-game concessions sales: $222,005.36.
2011 – Total concessions sales: $1,239,116.79. Average per-game concessions sales: $177,016.68.
UK FOOTBALL REVENUE (from tickets, parking, K-Fund donations)
2010 – $22.7 million
2011 – $22.0 million
2012 – $17.8 million*
* Still one home game left in 2012.
http://blogs.courier-journal.com/ukbeat/2012/11/13/how-much-has-2012-cost-uk-football/