The Univ. of Cincinnati football team’s 2021 appearance in the CFP “fueled athletic department revenues that soared last school year to what appears to be an all-time high,” according to Steve Watkins of the CINCINNATI BUSINESS COURIER. UC's operating revenue jumped 34% to $83.3M in the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2022. Last year’s revenue of $62.1M was “negatively affected” by the pandemic. However, last year’s total “even topped” the $81.7M level of fiscal 2020 that “wasn’t significantly hampered by Covid” and was “significantly higher than in 2019.” Watkins noted UC’s appearance in the CFP in 2021 “fueled those gains.” UC athletics CFO John Daniel said that the school received an additional $4M “from CFP money distributed through the American Athletic Conference.” UC also sold $2M “worth of tickets to the Cotton Bowl.” UC AD John Cunningham said that the school “received a larger payment than other AAC schools for the CFP appearance in the form of a bonus because it was in the game.” In addition, football ticket sales “set a record, fueling revenue” and the school had a “record year of fundraising from donors" (CINCINNATI BUSINESS COURIER, 2/2).
Cincinnati's CFP appearance against Alabama in the 2021 in the Cotton Bowl led the department to see revenue spike 34% year-over-yearGetty Images
