August 27, 2012, 7:48 PM ET (AP) ESPN College Football
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee's athletic department posted a $3.98 million deficit for the 2011-12 fiscal year that forced it to use a substantial portion of its financial reserves, department officials acknowledged Monday.
Although the athletic department made $106.5 million in revenues, it had $110.5 million in expenses. Those expenses included hefty buyouts to former athletic director Mike Hamilton, football coach Phillip Fulmer, men's basketball coach Bruce Pearl and baseball coach Todd Raleigh. When Hamilton resigned in June 2011, he received a $1.3 million buyout over three years. Fulmer received a buyout of $6 million over four years after getting fired in 2008.
Tennessee also has more than $200 million in outstanding debt related to the construction and renovation of various athletic facilities on campus.
The deficit, first reported Monday by The Sports Animal radio station in Knoxville, caused the athletic department's reserves to dip to slightly below $2 million.
See website below for Vandy info
VandySports.com - Athletic Department Restructuring
Vanderbilt's annual athletics budget is reportedly around $30 million a year. That is above the average for all BCS-member schools, including the SEC. Those who say Vanderbilt is not financially committed to athletics simply have no idea how committed the school actually is to fielding winning athletics teams. The plain fact of the matter is, no other SEC university spends anywhere close to what Vanderbilt spends when compared to the potential return on that investment.