HAWK ZONE

Kansas Athletics reports $9.3 million surplus in NCAA financial statement for fiscal year 2022

Jordan Guskey
Topeka Capital-Journal
The Kansas football team takes the field ahead of the team's spring game in 2022 at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium. The football program's increased budget surplus in fiscal year 2022 helped put the overall department in a better position financially.

LAWRENCE — Kansas Athletics operated at a surplus of more than $9 million during fiscal year 2022, according to the department's NCAA financial statement for that time period.

The excess of a little more than $9.3 million, total operating revenue over total operating expenses, followed the anticipated rebound of the department as it continues to move away from the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Fiscal year 2021 had a listed deficit of a little more than $1.8 million, after a listed surplus of $14,564 in fiscal year 2020. In fiscal year 2019, Kansas reported a surplus of a little more than $12.6 million.

Here are some takeaways from the report for fiscal year 2022:

It’s different from what was reported to Kansas Athletics’ Board of Directors, and a member of KU’s administration explains why

During Kansas Athletics’ Board of Directors meeting this past November, Pat Kaufman addressed how the department had done financially for fiscal year 2022. Kaufman, the chief financial officer and an executive associate athletic director, detailed the surplus as being a little more than $1 million. The revenue was in the $106 million range, and the expenses in the $105 million range.

Here’s what Kaufman told The Topeka Capital-Journal this month when asked to explain why those figures differ from the NCAA financial statement.

“The financials that we report to the Board of Directors is meant to show the results of athletics operations strictly on a cash basis,” Kaufman said in a statement. “For the NCAA Financial Report, we are following their guidelines, which have specific instructions on what and what not to include in the results and therefore should not be taken as a true financial statement. The NCAA Report provides revenue and expense information only in an income statement format. The report to the Board also includes items that (affect) the balance sheet and cash flow but not the revenues and expenses. For example; the submission to the NCAA includes $3.2 million of donor pledges as revenue related to capital projects, which we don’t consider a part of our annual operating results since the cash related to these pledges are not available for use in operating activities.”

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Expenses increased, but revenues did more

Kansas reported about $14.5 million more in total operating expenses in fiscal year 2022 compared to fiscal year 2021 (a bit more than $108.5 million, up from a bit more than $94 million), but that didn’t lead to a report of a significant deficit. Kansas actually had a bit more $25.5 more in total operating revenue for 2022 compared to 2021 (about $118 million, up from a bit more than $92 million). As such, Kansas was able to report its surplus for 2022.

Significant increases in revenue compared to expenses for men’s basketball and football were a major reason for the surplus. Men’s basketball went from a deficit of a bit more than $9 million for 2021 to a surplus of a bit more than $1.5 million for 2022. Football went from a surplus of a bit more than $10 million for 2021 to a surplus of almost $18 million for 2022.

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Tickets. Tickets. Tickets.

There were understandably going to be increases across various expenses, like game day costs, as more became possible in the day-to-day for fiscal year 2022 than was for fiscal year 2021. Kansas spent about $4 million on game expenses after spending close to $1.5 million the year prior. But there were also increases in different revenue categories, and especially ticket sales.

Kansas brought in close to $18 million in ticket sales for 2022 after bringing in just less than $3 million for 2021, a fiscal year that was heavily impacted by the pandemic. Football was a key part of that, going from $522,440 for 2021 to a bit more than $3.5 million for 2022. And men’s basketball drove the increase, going from a little more than $2 million for 2021 to a bit more than $13 million for 2022.

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There were a handful of other notable differences between the last two fiscal years

When it came to revenue, comparing fiscal year 2022 to fiscal year 2021, Kansas’ haul from media rights increased to about a bit more than $29.5 million from a bit more than $27 million. NCAA distributions increased to about $4.5 million from about $2.5 million, as conference distributions of football bowl-generated revenue increased to a bit more than $12.5 million from a bit more than $7 million. And that all helped, considering what Kansas brought in from athletics restricted endowment and investments income dropped to a bit more than $1 million — close to what it was for fiscal year 2019 — from a bit more than $11 million.

When it came to expenses, comparing fiscal year 2022 to fiscal year 2021, severance payments dropped to a bit less than $2.5 million from a bit more than $4.5 million — thanks, in part, to less being spent here regarding the football program. Kansas paid close to $2 million in recruiting, after spending $395,972 the year prior. And team travel costs increased to more than $8.5 million from a little more than $4 million.

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Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.