Mizzou athletics making — and spending — more money than ever

Missouri athletics director Jim Sterk. (AP Photo/L.G. Patterson)COLUMBIA, MO. • Despite lagging ticket sales for its two most prominent teams, University of Missouri athletics continues to haul in more money than ever — and spend more money than ever.

For the 2015-16 fiscal year, which included a 5-7 football season and a dismal 10-win campaign for the men’s basketball team, Mizzou’s athletics operating revenue increased 6.6 percent to a school-record $97,275,839, with more than a third of the revenue coming from the school’s media rights, predominantly its partnership with the SEC Network.

Record revenue tells only half the story of life in the SEC. Mizzou also spent a record total on…