NCAA reports revenues of more than $1 billion in 2017

Steve Berkowitz | USA TODAY

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The NCAA had close to $1.1 billion in annual revenue during its 2017 fiscal year, according to an audited financial statement the association released Wednesday.

It is the first time the association has surpassed $1 billion in annual revenue, although it had come close in two of its past three fiscal years.

A little more than half of the growth from 2016 came from increases in TV and marketing fees that totaled $821 million, revenue from championship events and investment income. The remainder — more than $26 million — came from the NCAA’s sale of its interest in an enterprise that, according to the financial statement, helps athletics departments and sports leagues with scheduling, referee assignments and various payments.

On the expense side, the association returned to a normal set of payouts a year after recording a $200 million one-time distribution to Division I members and the $209 million settlement of a lawsuit brought on behalf of tens of thousands of college athletes who received traditional sports scholarships rather than a new version that covers the full cost of attending school.

Altogether, the statement showed the NCAA with a little more than $956 million in expenses in fiscal 2017, led — as usual — by $560.3 million in distributions to Division I members.

The $105.1 million operating surplus for 2017 left the association with just under $399 million in total net assets as of Aug. 31, 2017.

In a separate response to questions from USA TODAY Sports, the NCAA said that its expenses for fiscal 2017 also included approximately $36 million for outside legal counsel. In 2016, according to the NCAA’s federal tax records, it had nearly $33.5 million in outside legal expenses.

From 2014 through 2017, the NCAA has totaled more than $108 million in outside legal fees. That amount does not include the $42.3 million in attorney’s fees and costs U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken awarded in March 2016 to lawyers representing the plaintiffs in the Ed O’Bannon antitrust case. The NCAA has appealed that decision to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which heard oral arguments on the matter three weeks ago.

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