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Report: Ohio State athletic department loses money for first time in a decade
Published:
For the first time in a decade, Ohio State’s athletic department operated in the red.
According to a report from the Columbus Dispatch, Ohio State’s athletic department reported a deficit of $10 million last year. Athletic director Gene Smith says the actual deficit was smaller than the reported total, less than $1 million.
“There’s no way I would be sitting here with 36 sports if we had a $10 million deficit,” Smith said. “It just wouldn’t happen. I’d be dropping sports and ticket prices would go up.”
Per the report, administrators say bookkeeping errors are to blame for the $10 million discrepancy. The department says the deficit was $624,359, reporting $210.3 million in revenues and $210.9 million in expenses.
From the Columbus Dispatch:
The department said the $10.4 million difference is made up of contributions from so-called “plant funds,” money that was held from previous fundraising efforts. The school allocated the money toward its budget for the 2019 fiscal year, but different external-audit requirements prevented it from recording the contributions on its report to the NCAA.
You can read more on Ohio State’s losses here.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB