University of Louisville athletics still has a big spending problem

Despite the announcements, we’re spending money like never before.

The University of Louisville posted its annual audited reports a few weeks ago for anyone like me who wants to deep dive financial results.  Included is the report for the University of Louisville Athletics Association (ULAA). In the face of purported belt tightening and news that we’re now taking on debt to meet expenses, the numbers continue to show a trend of higher athletics spending over the last three years.

The year before Vince Tyra arrived—fiscal year 2017—ULAA expenses were $104.2 million.  In the three years since, we have averaged $126.9 million in expenses (2018: $118.9; 2019: $141.6; and 2020: $119.9).  That’s a combined increase in spending of $67.9 million for the last three years compared to 2017.

I would struggle going out to Floyd Street and pointing at improvements since 2017 that correspond to a $68 million increase in spending.

There’s a partial explanation for the 2019 number, the year in which U of L charged several multimillion buyouts. Notably, $7 million for Tom Jurich, $14 million for Bobby Petrino, and $10 million for John Schnatter (stadium naming rights).  But those buyouts account for less than half of this $68 million hole that U of L Athletics has dug for itself.

As sure as Murphy prescribed that what can happen will happen, our athletics department would likely appreciate having saved most of that money to offset the things it can’t control nowadays.

In essence, you don’t have a spending problem if you’re bringing in money to cover your expenses like we used to do.  That’s the rub, we’re not doing that.  So you have to scrutinize expenses to balance a budget that we consistently have a hard time balancing anymore.

It’s time this department quickly figures out how to bring in more revenue if it wants to keep spending at this pace.  As opposed to further shrinking athletics, curtailing recruiting and the student-athlete experience, most fans would prefer that happened.