UB Athletics has spent approximately $730,000 on COVID-19 testing and $27,000 on personal protective equipment (PPE) during the 2020-21 fiscal year, according to a UB Athletics financial report obtained by The Spectrum on March 3.
These figures represent UB Athletics’ year-to-date information, which only includes expenses and revenues at the time of the report.
Unsurprisingly, football has dominated year-to-date spending. The program has had more than $1 million in expenses this year; all other men’s sports combined — including basketball, track-and-field, wrestling and tennis — have had less than $400,000 in expenses.
On Dec. 25, football beat Marshall in the Camellia Bowl. The department spent roughly $122,000 on the Montgomery, AL bowl game, but hasn’t received any revenue. The 2019 payout was $300,000.
On the women’s side, basketball has had more than $180,000 in expenses, followed by softball ($51,347), soccer ($29,587), volleyball ($29,506), track-and-field ($28,644), swimming and diving ($19,145) and tennis ($6,586).
Men’s teams have outspent women’s teams about 4-to-1, or $1,379,752 to $346,653.
The largest expense, as in a normal year, comes from athletic student aid, which includes tuition discounts and waivers, summer school and aid given to athletes who are inactive because of medical reasons or no longer eligible because they have exhausted their eligibility.
The department has expended roughly $4.4 million on athletic aid as of last Thursday.
Nate Wills, UB Athletics’ chief operating officer, says football head coach Lance Leipold has been paid $397,498 to date for his contractual salary, with no bonuses.
“Just like all university employees represented by the UUP” — United University Professions, SUNY’s faculty union — “collective bargaining agreement, no staff members have had their pay reduced but many have chosen to donate to the Make it PossiBULL campaign in order to assist the department in these challenging financial circumstances,” Wills said.
UB’s largest revenue source comes from UB and the state government. As of Thursday, Athletics has received $12.8 million in direct government support, direct institutional support and indirect government and institutional support.
The department has also received approximately $79,075 from conference and NCAA distributions and $350,000 from the Make it PossiBULL campaign.
One noticeable difference from previous years is that Athletics has spent only $11,341 on game-day expenses and hasn’t brought in any money from ticket sales or concessions, as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last year, Athletics brought in approximately $9.3 million in student fees; this year, the department hasn’t had any of the revenue transferred into its accounts yet.
Year-to-date information only includes what has been paid for or received at the time of The Spectrum’s request. Values provided before the department’s official audited financial report are purely rough estimates provided by UB Athletics.
Anthony DeCicco is the senior sports editor and can be reached at anthony.decicco@ubspectrum.com
Anthony DeCicco is the Editor-in-Chief of The Spectrum. His words have appeared in outlets such as SLAM Magazine andSyracuse.com. In 2020, he was awarded First Prize for Sports Column Writing at the Society of Professional Journalists' Region 1 Mark of Excellence Awards. In his free time, he can be found watching ‘90s Knicks games and reading NFL Mock Drafts at 3 a.m.
Photo: Ryan Hagen | UB Athletics
