Colleges Spent Millions on Bowl Travel, But Made More

Colleges in the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s Football Bowl Subdivision spent $90.3 million traveling to and from 35 bowl games last year, but they still made money thanks to the $300.8 million that was returned to the conferences and in turn their member campuses, according to an NCAA audit. In the Southeastern Conference, where colleges both made and spent the most money, campuses got $52,278,677 in bowl payouts, but accumulated $14,762,565 in expenses. However, this was the first year the NCAA did not count bowl bonuses that institutions awarded to coaches as expenses.