NCAA: Just 21 percent of athletic departments profitable

INDIANAPOLIS — Fewer than 25 percent of all major collegiate athletic departments made money in 2007-08.

That finding was released Tuesday by the NCAA, which surveyed all 119 Football Bowl Subdivision schools. Of those, 25 reported overall profits for the fiscal year ending June 2008, up from 19 in 2006.

More than half of all football and men’s basketball programs finished in the black. Only one women’s basketball team had a profit.

The NCAA also found that funding from schools and states to athletic budgets comprised 30 percent of total revenue in 2008, compared with 20 percent in 2006. The report cited a decline in ticket sales and a decrease in donations from alumni and boosters for the change.

Overall, athletic department expenditures have remained relatively constant since 2004, constituting approximately 5 percent of all institutional expenses.