How Much Money Does Michigan Basketball Bring in Annually?

Have you ever stopped to think about how much Michigan Basketball brings in per year? When you’re sitting in the stands which are usually filled to overflowing, and complaining about the cost of concessions that everyone seems to have as well, it’s apparent that they have to be bringing in a load of cash every year. We did a little investigation to see if we could find out what their annual revenue sits at currently and we were a little surprised. Here is what we learned.

Michigan Basketball is ranked among the top ten

The Michigan Athletic Department has shown a nine consecutive year of growth in their history. For the 2018 budget year they brought in an unexpected $2 million in their Amazon Prime series for the Wolverines but they’re not planning on a second season of this income stream for 2019. We’ll have to wait and see about that because we heard that the Amazon film crew was at the Paris location in the Spring when the football team made a trip there. It’s not yet known if the Wolverines will be involved in any of the filming this year as Amazon has not yet approached Michigan Basketball.

In the evaluation process

There were a few changes that have been made that will impact the total revenue that Michigan Basketball brings in for the 2019 fiscal year. This includes a Big Ten conference distribution increase of $1.06 million which will bring the total to $52.12 million and then there are the private gifts of course which are estimated to be $1.5 million. Facility revenues are estimated to come in at around a $2 million increase for rental but they’re estimating that there will be a decrease in licensing royalties by $1.04 million. On an upbeat note, Michigan is projecting that they will experience an increase in spectator admissions revenue beginning in the fall by $5.9 million due to the addition of a seventh home football game but it won’t have anything to do with the revenue of Michigan Basketball which is a separate budget.

Yet more changes to the budget

With all of the projected increases in the revenues, there will also be some major hits to the budget. Salary increases of $2.9 million are anticipated as well as other factors having to do with the University as a whole.

Michigan Basketball revenues

When we pull away from the other budgeting factors and focus strictly upon the revenues of Michigan Basketball, statistics show that the athletic department for Michigan generated revenue in the amount of $185,173,187 for the 2016-17 year with expenses of $175,425,392. This shows a substantial surplus amount in the budget and they made money for the year. Michigan State came in at 21st on the list with a total revenue of $126,021,377. They’re projecting that they will bring in a surplus revenue of approximately $2.5 million for the 2019 season. That is if their figures hold steady for the $187.8 million in operating revenue against a final operating expense figure of $185.3 million.

Final thoughts

When it comes to generating revenue, Michigan Basketball is raking in a hefty share of the pie. Their largest income streams come from the sale of tickets to attend games and then the concessions which bring in a lot more than the ticket sales do. We also can’t discount the royalties that are brought in from the licensed merchandise, which is expected to go into decline this season. There are also the private gifts that are made periodically by donors who want to contribute. Last year’s unexpected $2.2 million in Amazon films was a boost that they feel is unlikely to happen again for the upcoming season. Still, Michigan Basketball has made a habit of coming in under their allotted budget and they manage to be a decent revenue producer for the University of Michigan. When you consider how much it takes for operation and overhead for preparing for the games and keeping the facilities in good repair, they’re doing remarkably well. We’ll stick with the figures that have been supplied by the best guess projections and predict they’ll have a $2.5 million surplus with a revenue of $187.8 million for 2019.