“University football brings everybody together as one, and our school wouldn’t be as spirited without it,” said sophomore biology major Deidre Creel.
However, there have been several articles published on the amount of money lost because of college football. One article in the Texas Tribune reports UTSA football suffered a loss of $5,425,952. However, these articles do not take all the financial factors into account. The $3,082,484 revenue does not include student fees or money transferred to the Athletics department of the university. The UTSA Athletics department receives $12,032,206 for student fees. The UTSA athletic fee is $20 per semester hour taken.
“We don’t get money from the state. It is against Texas state law to give direct funding to state university athletic departments. This means we have to fundraise, sell tickets and utilize our student fee to make up for it,” said UTSA Athletics Director Lynn Hickey.
Football revenue heavily relies on sponsors and donors, so attendance at the games is important. The average attendance at a UTSA football game is 27,567 fans.
“The fact that we haven’t won a whole lot of games recently makes people uninterested. Not a lot of people want to buy season tickets for a team that doesn’t win,” said sophomore communication major and UTSA football player Josiah Tauefa.
Better teams generate more money; wealthier schools can afford to recruit better players and coaches. In 2015, UTSA paid football coach Larry Coker $350,000 and the university won only three of 13 games. In 2016, Coach Frank Wilson signed a five-year contract with a salary of $650,000. He in turn led UTSA to six victories and the Gildan New Mexico Bowl.
“I believe UTSA football will now receive many more sponsors and donations because the team made it to the bowl this year“ said sophomore nursing major Briana Loera.
The football team has grown exponentially greater in just the five years of its existence. Every year it receives more money from fans, and sponsors such as Red McCombs who donated $1,000,000. Some other sponsors are SACU, Seaworld and the San Antonio Express News.
