College football is one of the most popular sports in the country and one of the most profitable. But to make money you have to spend money and college football programs throughout the country, including Duke are doing just that.
Universities and colleges spend money on everything from recruiting, paying visiting teams to travel to their sites, to typical game-day expenses and that probably isn’t the half of it. Football programs are spending and making money hand over fist, but how does Duke stack up.
Looking at an ESPN database on the amount of money spent and made by all FBS schools I focused my attention on the information provided on Duke and how they stacked up against the rest of the ACC.
As a private institution, Duke as well as other private schools, declined to release some of their information. According to ESPN, they filled in some of the blanks using financial information that public and private schools are required to provide to the U.S. Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Education or the IRS to come up with some of the figures.
Most of the columns are blank for Duke but you are able to get an idea of just how much money Duke is spending and making on their football program, or at least based on what the ESPN database is showing.
Based on the data ESPN compiled the Duke Football program has averaged $70,804,027 in total operating revenues over the last 5 seasons. As a whole the database only shows data back to 2008 which coincides with David Cutcliffe’s arrival at Duke. So, there is no way of knowing based on looking at this database alone, how much revenue the program made prior to Cutcliffe becoming Duke’s coach.
But to make money you have to spend it and Duke is averaging $70,526,074 in total operating expenses in that same time period. So if you look at just those two averages the program is averaging a net revenue of $277,953 in that time frame. Again these numbers are based on incomplete data and extrapolations made by ESPN.
However, if those numbers are accurate then it has to be someone encouraging that the program is averaging a profit when often times you hear the stories about how programs are losing money. Last year alone Duke made (based on the ESPN numbers) $380,330 of net profit off of football, good for 10th in the conference.
While we don’t know how much money Duke made in itemized revenues or how much they spent on most expenses we do have an idea of how much they spend in recruiting, the lifeblood of college football success. In 2012 Duke spent $1,558,233 in recruiting, more than any current member of the ACC.
Since 2008, Duke has averaged $1,352,472 in spending on recruiting, and while Duke hasn’t exactly brought in the 4 and 5-star recruits, the quality of the recruiting classes is much better. As a result the on-field success is starting to improve.
It may shock some that Duke spends more than any other program in the conference, but when you consider Florida State and Miami don’t have to travel very far for to get high quality players it makes some sense. The Blue Devils coaching staff goes all across the country in the attempts to find talent.
The current roster has players as close as Durham and as far away as California showing that Cutcliffe and company will go as far as it takes to get players. Those trips across country naturally cost money. Only partial ACC member Notre Dame spent more money in recruiting in 2012 at just over $2 million.
Overall no school spent or made as much as Florida State who spent over $100 million but still made the highest net profits based on ESPN’s database at $9,770,566. Boston College brought up the rear losing $1 million during the 2012 year. The newest members of the ACC, Pitt (broke even) and Syracuse ($4,100,635 total profits) had big discrepancies but both have rich football histories and traditions and are expected to improve the conference overall.
Probably one of the most striking pieces of data on the conference as a whole is the fact that Wake Forest, despite being the smallest school, made the 5th most in net profits at $3,586,168. It clearly shows schools like Duke, that the football program can have financial success, even for small, private schools with high academic requirements and not as much recent football success; though Wake won an ACC Championship in 2006.
Overall, considering how much Duke has struggled on the gridiron these numbers are encouraging and if the Blue Devils continue to come out on top more on the scoreboard, they will be more likely to come out on top on the bottom line.
| School | Total Operating Revenue | Money spent on Recruiting | Total Operating Expenses | Net |
| Boston College* | $66,823,109.00 | $1,224,307.00 | $67,823,109.00 | -$1,000,000.00 |
| Clemson | $70,002,280.00 | $1,176,718.00 | $67,783,797.00 | $2,218,483.00 |
| Duke* | $78,604,895.00 | $1,558,233.00 | $78,224,565.00 | $380,330.00 |
| Florida State | $100,049,444.00 | $1,251,058.00 | $90,278,878.00 | $9,770,566.00 |
| Georgia Tech | $63,184,163.00 | $1,424,048.00 | $61,179,789.00 | $2,004,374.00 |
| Maryland | $68,142,660.00 | $986,107.00 | $68,109,639.00 | $33,021.00 |
| Miami* | $62,099,601.00 | $842,943.00 | $61,883,503.00 | $216,098.00 |
| North Carolina | $82,424,430.00 | $1,512,701.00 | $81,921,783.00 | $502,647.00 |
| NC State | $59,757,911.00 | $1,196,820.00 | $56,332,313.00 | $3,425,598.00 |
| Pitt* | $56,338,449.00 | $826,652.00 | $56,338,449.00 | $0.00 |
| Syracuse | $73,287,687.00 | $1,061,091.00 | $69,187,052.00 | $4,100,635.00 |
| Virginia | $80,835,566.00 | $1,251,498.00 | $75,437,849.00 | $5,397,717.00 |
| Virginia Tech | $70,723,755.00 | $1,154,952.00 | $66,970,802.00 | $3,752,953.00 |
| Wake Forest* | $73,287,687.00 | $838,417.00 | $45,190,017.00 | $3,586,168.00 |
| *Denotes Private School |
Follow us on Twitter @DukeBlogMKline and visit our Facebook page-Duke Sports Blog. Got question? E-mail us at dukesportsblogmkline@gmail.com
