How much revenue does Alabama football generate? Exploring the net earnings of Nick Saban's team in the CFB arena
One can confidently say that Alabama football is still riding the dynasty wave. The program has featured in seven college football playoffs, progressing to six title games and winning three of those.
There have been nine seasons of college football playoffs, and Alabama has featured in seven, that's a 77.% ratio. And if you were to say you think Alabama was going to make this year's playoff, very few people could call you out on it. Alabama is currently No.4 in the AP poll, and always a title contender.
But Nick Saban's dynasty has proved to be more than an athletic success for the University of Alabama, with it being highly profitable for the school. Today let's take a look at how much revenue Alabama football generates for the Tuscaloosa school.
How much revenue does Alabama football generate?
Nick Saban led Alabama Football program reported an insane 214.4 million dollars in revenue for the last fiscal year. That's a 224.9% rise in revenue from the one that they reported back in the 2013-14 fiscal year at 95.3 million dollars.
This year wasn't as profitable as others, with the surplus being 18.5 million dollars. For comparison 2013-14 brought 53.3 million dollars in surplus. Nonetheless, you have to take into account that this came in after a 2021-2022 fiscal year that rocked the sports industry and high inflation, which makes the 18 million dollars in surplus still a very respectable profit.
Alabama football revenue ranked third in the nation, behind Oregon (391.8 million dollars) and Ohio State (233.9 million dollars). It far outranks all other SEC schools, with only LSU and Arkansas coming anywhere close. The Tigers reported 199.3 million dollars in revenue and 6.5 million dollars in profit. Meanwhile, the Hogs got 152.2 million dollars in revenue and 8.1 million dollars in profit.
Alabama Football's Financial Recovery
The Crimson Tide is showing some very good signs of recovery from the pandemic, with revenue streams diversifying. In 2021 the school also received 23 million dollars from the SEC that helped it keep afloat.
Not only have the ticket sales recovered, but the school has seen increases in contributions and media coverage deals. Contributions were the most significant increase, going from $17.5 million to $52.3 million. Media deals also showed a healthy $2.9 million increase. Alabama can also expect expenses to drop, with many of the increases in that department over the last few years being COVID-related.