Florida must share SEC money with all schools

How much extra money will the University of Florida Athletic Association haul in from television and ticket revenue for Saturday's Southeastern Conference Championship Game?

Nada. Zip. Zero. A big goose egg. An O-fer. Shutout.

Under the SEC's revenue sharing plan, the conference and its 12 schools share that money equally after expenses, along with revenues from bowl games and seasonal television rights.

Last school year, the SEC distributed $127.2 million, or $10.6 million to each school. That included $13.7 million from the football championship, or $1.1 million per school.

"Vanderbilt's going to make the same amount of money as the University of Florida for this game, as is Kentucky and the University of Alabama," said Greg McGarity, UF executive associate athletic director. "That's probably the biggest misconception about the tremendous amount of dollars out there."

Lest anyone think that unfair, McGarity pointed out that UF received its $1.1 million last year from the SEC Championship Game played between Louisiana State and Tennessee.

That distribution of wealth is also what helps make the SEC a strong conference with such parity of competition, McGarity said.

"The strength of this league is being able to help others who aren't as fortunate," he said. "Auburn is not going (to a bowl) this year. How many years have they contributed? Tennessee is not in a bowl."

Other conferences, such as the Big Ten and Atlantic Coast, also share revenue equally. The Big 12 shares some revenue, but provides greater shares to schools with more televised football and basketball games and for NCAA basketball tournament appearances.

UF counts on revenue sharing money to fund athletics, McGarity said. "That's not over and above our operating budget. We're counting on that $10 million or $11 million every year."

Last school year, the $10.6 million contributed to University Athletic Association revenues of $95.7 million and expenses of $98.2 million, with carryover from the prior year making up the difference.

The $127.2 million distributed in 2007-08 was a record, up 4.3 percent from 2006-07.

The $13.7 million SEC Championship Game revenue sharing total is up 101 percent from the $6.8 million haul that came in the last time Alabama and Florida met in the title game in 1999.

While television revenues from the SEC Championship Game are shared equally, SEC teams receive $40,000 to $120,000 for regular-season games on network or national cable telecasts and $20,000 to $40,000 to the home team for the SEC game of the week on Raycom Sports.

UF and Alabama do stand to make extra revenue from royalties collected from licensed merchandise. The winner stands to make as much as $70,000 to $100,000 in royalties, according to Tyler Stinnett of the Collegiate Licensing Company, which licenses and markets trademarks for UF and numerous other colleges.

The SEC collects 8 percent on merchandise featuring its championship game logo and up to 14 percent when it is used with one or more of the schools. Products featuring the championship winner earn a 15 percent split between the SEC and the winning school, Stinnett said.

Since the game matchup has been set for almost a month, that has created a lot of licensing revenue potential, Stinnett said, and the two top-five teams fighting for a spot in the BCS Championship Game "has created a lot more demand in the marketplace."

Unlike bowl games that require longer stays, UF treats the SEC Championship Game like any other road game, in that it leaves Gainesville today and returns Saturday night, said Steve McClain, associate athletics director for communications.

The differences are the number of people the university sends and the way costs are covered.

For regular-season road games, UF is allowed to send 70 players. It also sends a pep band of 50 to 75 people. McGarity said road games cost an average of about $150,000, which comes out of the athletic operations budget.

For the SEC Championship Game, UF is allowed 85 players and sends a full band of about 325 people. The SEC allocates each school $225,000, plus an additional $16,000 for bands, to cover travel, hotels and meals for the players, band, about 20 cheerleaders and another 85 people who include coaches, trainers, physicians, managers, radio and other staff.

Team charter flights are handled separately, with UF sending its bill - totaling about $70,000 - to the SEC for reimbursement, McGarity said.

He said UF may go slightly over budget, especially since all 85 players are allowed six complimentary game tickets each, but hopes to recoup costs by selling the unused but required second night of hotel reservations.

"Your goal is to try to break even on your expenses," he said.