The USC athletics department expects to make $121.9 million in fiscal year 2017-2018 and spend $102.9 million of that windfall, according to figures athletic director Ray Tanner recently presented to the school’s Board of Trustees. Both numbers are records for South Carolina.
“We don’t have the biggest budget in the league but we are pretty successful with what we’ve got,” said Jeff Tallant, the department’s chief financial officer.
The biggest increase in the school’s revenue is a $4.9 million uptick in media rights, which can be traced to a one-time signing bonus of $4 million the school received for re-upping its rights contract with IMG and the annual dollar increase in that contract.