Wu-Tang Clan told us all that cash rules way back in the 90’s, and no sport seemingly personifies that mantra more than college football. What with $100 million revenues and multi-million dollar coaching contracts, it certainly seems that money is how you get yourself to a national championship these days.
However, does the reality of the data meet the perception? According to a CBS Sports report, the data really suggests that winning isn’t completely dictated by money. Don’t get me wrong, having loads of cash certainly isn’t a burden to winning, but it is far from the determining factor.
Take this season’s College Football Playoff participants for instance. Sure, Alabama rakes in a ridiculous $148.9 million and Ohio State tops the list with an even crazier $167.2 million in revenue for the 2014-15 season (which is the last season with complete revenue data available).
But there are also Clemson and Washington, who make a paltry (in comparison) $83.5 million and $104.4 million respectively. So one would be led to believe that revenue isn’t a really good predictor of winning a national championship, and that’s where CBS Sports’ reporting comes in handy.
You see, Washington’s total revenue is 23rd in the nation, while Clemson ranks 39th. Should either win the national title, they would be the first team since 2005 to not rank in the top 20 to win the college football national championship.
Of course, those are the revenues for the entire athletic departments. It is the money spent on football that truly matters, and in the case of Clemson, it could be seen as the reason they have been a College Football Playoff contender over the last two seasons.
Per CBS Sports, the Tigers spend around $100,000 more on assistant coaches and support staff than Alabama, suggesting that the money spent on the ancillary stuff around the game matters way more than revenue generated from the game itself.
Take this from CBS Sports’ reporting:
Clemson spent $100,000 more than Alabama in 2014-15 on both football support staff and assistant coach salaries. Ohio State trailed Alabama and Clemson, and Washington was even farther behind.
Football expenses in total? Alabama has spent a crazy $48.3 million, while Clemson, Ohio State, and Washington spend just over half of what the Crimson Tide are spending and are still there with the same chance (on paper, at least) to win a national championship as Saban’s crew.
We’ve also been told recruiting matters, yet that only seems to hold true monetarily with Alabama, who spends nearly 60 percent of its overall recruiting budget on football activities. Clemson is not far behind at 52 percent, while Ohio State and Washington each spend about 33 percent of their budgets on football recruiting.
It all adds up to the simple fact that there is more than one way to skin a cat when it comes to winning national championships. You’d just better be able to spend a bunch of money and find a way to get a fair chunk of revenue coming into the coffers.
Here is the full look at revenues, expenses and how football has played a role at all four schools in this year’s College Football Playoff via CBS Sports:
Finances of College Football Playoff teams
| Category | Alabama | Clemson | Ohio State | Washington |
| Total Operating Athletic Revenue | $148.9 million | $83.5 million | $167.2 million | $103.5 million |
| Total Operating Athletic Expenses | $132.4 million | $82.9 million | $154.0 million | $104.4 million |
| Total Athletic Revenue (2005-15)* | $1.27 billion | $679.6 million | $1.39 billion | $775.8 million |
| Sports | 21 | 19 | 36 | 22 |
| Scholarship Athletes | 452 | 385 | 724 | 404 |
| Annual Debt for Athletic Facilities | $15.2 million | $2.1 million | $28.6 million | $15.8 million |
| Football Ticket Sales | $36.9 million | $19.7 million | $52.2 million | $21.4 million |
| Donations to Athletic Department | $29.4 million | $19.7 million | $33.0 million | $22.8 million |
| Direct Institutional Support | $6.1 million | $4.2 million | $75,470 | $3.9 million |
| Athletic Department Money Transferred to University | $5.3 million | $0 | $75,470 | $0 |
| Student Fee Revenue | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| NCAA Revenue | $2.0 million | $2.7 million | $4.7 million | $3.1 million |
| Media Rights (Radio, TV, Digital, etc.) | $35.0 million | $15.4 million | $24.8 million | $26.3 million |
| Media Rights Attributed to Football | 57% | 75% | 64% | 89% |
| Additional Conference Revenue (non-media/bowl) | $8.4 million | $6.9 million | $4.4 million | $456,750 |
| Royalties, Licensing, Advertising, Sponsorships | $11.2 million | $8.1 million | $17.1 million | $12.7 million |
| Football Camp Revenue | $590,661 | $652,330 | $644,961 | $56,306 |
| Nike 2016-17 Contract Value | $3.8 million | $2.7 million | $6.2 million | $3.7 million |
| Football Scholarship Costs | $4.0 million | $4.0 million | $4.1 million | $3.5 million |
| Players on Athletic Aid | 116 | 105 | 86 | 91 |
| Football Scholarship Value Per Player | $34,121 | $37,908 | $47,222 | $38,051 |
| Football Head Coach Pay in 2016* | Nick Saban, $6.9M | Dabo Swinney, $4.4M | Urban Meyer, $6.1M | Chris Petersen, $3.6M |
| Max 2016 Bonus for Head Coach* | $700,000 | $1.7 million | $775,000 | $1.2 million |
| Football 2016 Assistant Coaches Pay* | $5.3 million | $5.4 million | $4.6 million | $3.6 million |
| Football Support Staff Pay | $3.2 million | $3.3 million | $3.0 million | $2.4 million |
| Football Recruiting Expenses | $1.3 million | $884,960 | $614,619 | $452,610 |
| Recruiting Expenses Attributed to Football | 60% | 52% | 33% | 33% |
| Athletic Department Medical Expenses/Insurance | $3.0 million | $766,733 | $1.3 million | $1.3 million |
| Football Medical Costs/Insurance Per Player | $11,904 | $1,649 | Not available^ | $5,418 |
| Total Expenses Attributed to Football | $48.3 million | $27.3 million | $29.2 million | $29.1 million |
| * via USA Today | # via Portland Business Journal ^ OSU reported medical/insurance costs for the entire athletic department, not by sport. |
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