Part 3: First Chink in Hogs' Financial Armor Reveals Itself
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – After a couple of days of exploring where Arkansas stands in regard to money in the SEC, the Hogs sit second in the league behind only Texas A&M.
Revenue from ticket sales and also corporate sponsorships, advertising and licensing indicate Arkansas fans and related businesses far exceed the rest of the league in support. In the past decade alone, the Razorbacks have taken in excess of $100 million more than 64% of SEC schools from these two main revenue streams alone.
So, with Arkansas having built what appears to be an insurmountable financial lead over most of the league, the search continues as to why the Hogs are perceived as the have-nots struggling to stay afloat off welfare provided to them by their fellow SEC big brothers. It certainly isn't a narrative that holds up so far, so there must be a category out there where the Razorbacks get completely snowed under by the rest of the league.
So, the next logical rock to overturn is media money. For a lot of casual fans out there this might seem like a non-starter.
After all, the general consensus is the SEC just dumps all media money into a pot, divides everything up equally, and everyone goes home with the same check. However, it doesn't quite work like that.
The league does provide a base amount of money to all schools. The latest numbers to come out have each program collecting $51.3 million off the top.
However, there is other money to be considered. For instance, Alabama brought $6 million to the SEC by virtue of qualifying for the playoffs last year.
The Crimson Tide got to keep $2 million while the rest was distributed among the other schools. There was also a large chunk of change independent of that amount given to cover expenses such as travel and lodging that typically adds at least another $2 million to the revenue stream.
Of course, there's local media rights such as radio and a few other sources of cash, although that's a small amount of change in the grand scheme of things. However, it's unclear whether the Knight-NewHouse College Athletics Database used for these calculations considers deals with Leerfield as licensing or true media rights agreements. Considering the major differences in some of these figures that far exceed extra bowl money, it is being assumed non-television rights also fall under media revenue.
As before with Part 1 covering ticket revenue and Part 2 looking into corporate dollars, everything starts with a comparison to Georgia and Alabama, the two most high profile schools of the past decade from a brand perspective. Then the scope will widen to include the entire SEC.
This is the first chink to be revealed in the Razorbacks' financial armor. While the Hogs have years where they literally take in $70 million more in media revenue than half the schools in Division I, Arkansas has yet to maximize its potential in regard to the SEC.
The Razorbacks, due in part to a lack of success in football, have found themselves in the bottom half of the league every year but one since 2005. Other than a finish in 2017 where Arkansas barely snuck over into the upper half, the only other time the Hogs have pushed out of the bottom was 2015 when Arkansas finished dead middle of the SEC with $35.85 million.
Back in the mid to late 2000s, the gap wasn't wide enough to make that much of a difference. However, once the College Football Playoffs began to factor into the equation at the same time the Razorbacks football program hit its dark period, the massive revenue lead the Hogs had overall began to dwindle.
Unlike the previous two indicators, Arkansas doesn't dominate Alabama and Georgia in media rights. Only once since 2005 did the Razorbacks generate more money than either by besting the Bulldogs by $850,000 in 2015.
The year prior, Arkansas saw itself dead last of all the reporting schools (Vanderbilt doesn't have to report) and it wasn't close. The Hogs took a $2 million cut in media revenue from 2013 which is virtually impossible to do. Money almost always goes up year-to-year when it comes to media rights.
As with previous stories, the Razorbacks' ranking among SEC teams is listed below, followed by the team that led the league in media money that year and how much more that school received than Arkansas. One thing worth noting, although everyone says football drives all the money, Kentucky either leads the SEC or is just a few hundred thousand short of first place nearly every year on the strength of its basketball program.
Unfortunately for Arkansas, the days of Nolan Richardson were long gone and the program went through its own dark period that somewhat overlapped with the early portion of the football program's worst days, so the results are less than surprising. Once the College Football Playoff came into existence, the Hogs' huge financial lead began to quickly evaporate.
2005: No. 7 (Florida / $2.36 million)
2006: No. 8 (Kentucky / $5.72 million)
2007: No. 7 (Kentucky / $6.52 million)
2008: No. 8 (Kentucky / $6.02 million)
2009: No. 10 (Alabama / $7.67 million)
2010: No. 8 (Alabama / $8.22 million)
2011: No. 10 (Alabama / $6.82 million)
2012: No. 10 (Alabama / $9.14 million)
2013: No. 11 (Alabama / $11.42 million)
2014: No. 13 (Alabama / $15.28 million)
2015: No. 7 (Alabama / $9.49 million)
2016: No. 9 (Alabama / $15.96 million)
2017: No. 9 (Alabama / $15.44 million)
2018: No. 9 (Alabama / $16.28 million)
2019: No. 12 (Alabama / $21.09 million)
2020: No. 12 (Kentucky / $19.97 million)
2021: No. 10 (Alabama / $19.58 million)
2022: No. 9 (Alabama / $19.43 million)
2023: No. 9 (Kentucky / $17.59 million)
* Not yet in the SEC
With the Razorbacks' funding taking a huge hit and Kentucky joining the mix of schools that have to be calculated among the SEC financial powerhouses by way of its numerous first place finishes in media rights, it's time to adjust the numbers to account for this latest data. The new results among the league's most dominant money generating schools are as follows:
1. Alabama ... $1,143,851,103
2. Texas A&M ... $1,086,807,044
3. Kentucky ... $1,036,495,535
4. LSU ... $973,772,463
5. Tennessee ... $966,460,697
6. Arkansas ... $958,946,956
7. Florida ... $941,229,811
It should be noted that Kentucky wasn't even on the map after the first two categories. However, after using the strength of its basketball program and John Calipari's ability to leverage his connections and reputation in conjunction with a few good years in football, the Wildcats produced a stunning $627 million in media revenue over the past decade.
That was enough to vault past an Arkansas program that struggled to convert its own image and likeness into a brand media companies value. Still, fan support and corporate relationships built such a massive treasure chest that after three categories, the Razorbacks can still be considered elite financially.
They are one of six SEC schools that by the magic of rounding can consider themselves in the billionaires' club over the past 10 years. The good news is Arkansas is incredibly close in overall revenue in the grand scheme of things while also having an easily identifiable weakness that can be targeted over the next few years.
The addition of Calipari as the Hogs' basketball coach will go a long way in helping the overall athletics program make strides in terms of media money. He was a major part of the near record-breaking financial puzzle in this regard at Kentucky, so his experience can be utilized to increase the Hogs' standing and get them back into the Top 3 overall.
Still, Arkansas is more or less in a tie from a money standpoint with the SEC's elite other than perhaps Alabama. That continues to leave no room for why Razorback athletics is perceived and continues to function as if the Hogs are living in a doublewide tucked away on a block full of mansions.
Somewhere out there is one piece of the financial pie that sends Arkansas crashing to the depths of the SEC cellar. Otherwise, the entire financial pity party is just for show, which makes entirely no sense.
Perhaps Part 4 of this series will finally uncover what is holding the Razorbacks back from greatness across all sports.
Even football.
HOGS FEED:
• Calipari puts college basketball world on notice during Pat McAfee Show appearance
• Van Horn prepares Arkansas for portal madness as coaching shake-up rocks SEC
• Hogs in danger of over-coaching?
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KENT SMITH
Kent Smith has been in the world of media and film for nearly 30 years. From Nolan Richardson's final seasons, former Razorback quarterback Clint Stoerner trying to throw to anyone and anything in the blazing heat of Cowboys training camp in Wichita Falls, the first high school and college games after 9/11, to Troy Aikman's retirement and Alex Rodriguez's signing of his quarter billion dollar contract, Smith has been there to report on some of the region's biggest moments.