UNR has poured an extra $10M into athletics; will that lead to future Wolf Pack success?

Last August, I wrote a five-part series of stories on Nevada athletics' financial situation, which included a pledge from the president's office to get the Wolf Pack to the Mountain West median in university funding.

Historically, the Wolf Pack had ranked at the bottom of the 11-team MW (plus Hawaii in football) in public funding, which included state, university and student fee money.

In a typical year pre-COVID, those public-money revenue sources contributed roughly $16 million annually to Nevada's budget, about $10 million below the MW median. The university's goal was to fund that extra $10 million in an effort of building the championship-caliber athletic department UNR president Brian Sandoval has set as a goal.

While no firm timeline was set to support Nevada athletics with that additional $10 million in annual funding, it appears as if that goal has been accomplished. UNR gave the Wolf Pack roughly $10 million in allocations not in the original budget to cover deficits in fiscal year 2021 and fiscal year 2022. Both times, the university said those were one-time situations to cover for COVID-19's impact on attendance.

With COVID now in the rearview mirror, at least in terms of impacting athletic department revenue sources, the Wolf Pack's university support in fiscal year 2023 remained at the 2021 and 2022 levels, essentially a $10 million boost over the pre-COVID baseline. Wolf Pack athletics also budgeted for its 2024 fiscal year, which will end this June, with that enhanced university funding baked in.

As far as the university supporting athletics at a higher level, it appears to be mission accomplished.

Below is how much each MW school (sans Air Force) received in university money (both direct and indirect) in fiscal year 2022, the most recently available numbers. It's worth noting Nevada's number is from fiscal year 2023 since I obtained that report earlier this month.

University support

1. Colorado State — $22,262,693

2. Fresno State — $18,877,397

3. Utah State — $17,976,793

4. Hawaii — $17,379,531

5. Nevada — $16,442,237

6. San Diego State — $15,495,491

7. San Jose State — $14,830,300

8. Wyoming — $13,723,995

9. Boise State — $12,832,861

10. UNLV — $9,183,646

11. New Mexico —$7,830,263

Average — $15,166,837

Median — $15,495,491

And here is how much each MW school received in "public money," which includes state, university and student fee revenue. Again, the non-Nevada numbers are from fiscal year 2022 with the Wolf Pack numbers from fiscal year 2023.

Public money per school

1. Hawaii — $29,364,270

2. San Diego State — $28,525,799

3. Colorado State — $28,227,758

4. UNLV — $24,656,056

5. Utah State — $24,341,550

6. Nevada — $24,145,006

7. San Jose State — $23,620,166

8. Fresno State — $23,252,181

9. Wyoming — $20,900,435

10. New Mexico —$18,641,600

11. Boise State — $16,594,786

Average — $23,842,692

Median — $24,145,006

While it's not completely apples to apples because Nevada's number is from FY23 compared to the rest of the MW's FY22 figures, the university has followed through on its goal to boost the Wolf Pack's non-earned financial support to the MW median. The Wolf Pack also is above the average in both categories. While those figures are one illustration of financial support from the state and university, another way to look at things is the percentage of a department's budget that is subsidized by those public money figures. We got those numbers by dividing the public money figure by each department's total budget. The higher the number, the more subsidized each department is from public funds.

Percent 'subsidized'

1. San Jose State — 59.7%

2. Hawaii — 59.4%

3. Utah State — 56.4%

4. Nevada — 48.8%

5. Colorado State — 46.1%

6. Fresno State — 43.0%

7. San Diego State — 42.5%

8. Wyoming — 41.6%

9. New Mexico —41.5%

10. UNLV — 38.4%

11. Boise State — 31.7%

Average — 46.3%

Median — 43.0%

Again, Nevada is above the MW average and median with nearly 50 percent of its revenue coming from state, university and student fee money. For decades, Wolf Pack athletic directors have long decried, both publicly and privately, the lack of financial support from the university and state. Nevada is now on a more level footing with its MW competitors. Whether that means more championships in the future — the Wolf Pack was the only MW school not to win at least one title in 2022-23 — is to be determined.

Columnist Chris Murray provides insight on Northern Nevada sports. Contact him at crmurray@sbgtv.com or follow him on Twitter @ByChrisMurray.