Why Alabama athletics lost nearly $28 million in FY 2024: ‘Coaching transition’

Alabama athletics was in the red for fiscal year 2024, according to its NCAA revenues and expenses report, obtained by AL.com by an open records request. The Crimson Tide reported a nearly $28 million loss department-wide.

However, UA open records and project specialist Jessica Schingle offered an explanation.

“The net loss reported for the year was largely due to one-time expenses associated with the football coaching transition,” Schingle said in an email.

Alabama reported $234,825,632 in revenue for the fiscal year, which ran from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024. The department spent $262,789,471.

The total net loss came to $27,963,839. It’s the second straight year Alabama has shown a loss on athletics, though last year’s deficit was explained by $14.3 million in gifts that were not counted during FY 2023.

Alabama reported $199.9 million in revenue last year, so the number is up for 2024. The Crimson Tide spent $212 million department-wide in FY 2023.

UA football remains the financial driver for the entire athletics department. The program reported $140.3 million in revenue and $113.8 million in expenses, for a $26.4 million surplus.

Alabama football reported $21.3 million in coach pay for FY 2023, a number which ballooned up to $47.4 million for FY 2024. The Tide’s football recruiting spend also jumped, from $2.9 million for FY 2023, to $5.3 million.

Meanwhile, the Alabama men’s basketball program brought in $21.3 million in FY 2024, which included its first Final Four run, up from $20.6 million. The program spent $15.3 million in FY 2024, for a surplus of nearly $6 million, up from a $12.8 million spend in FY 2023.

Department-wide, Alabama’s biggest expense was coach pay and benefits. Including the large football spend, UA reported $65.3 million, a huge jump from last fiscal year’s $37.3 million.

Support-staff pay also saw a large increase, up to $41.5 million. In FY 2023, that was UA’s biggest expense, at $38.5 million.

Contributions were Alabama’s largest source of revenue in FY 2024, as the program raked in $75.3 million, an enormous increase from $48,963,013 in FY 2023. $53.5 million of that came from football, up from $42.7 million last fiscal year.

Media rights were second-place, bringing in $56.2 million, a slight jump from $55.6 million in FY 2023.