Every year on Oct. 15, the federal government requires universities that receive government financial aid to report financial data about their athletic programs. This law is known as the Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act. Because Drexel receives funding from the federal government, their EADA report is published on the athletics website.
During the 2023-2024 school year, Drexel spent $28,145,622 on its 20DI athletics teams. Drexel’s EADA report details information about overall expenses, operating expenses, athlete participation, coaching salaries, student aid and recruiting. This information paints a clearer picture of how Drexel Athletics is spending money.
“Game-day expenses”, also known as operating expenses are the first expense on the form to be broken down by sport. Operating expenses are all expenses that relate to the athlete, including “lodging, meals, transportation, uniforms, equipment, and officials.” These expenses are calculated per person and by team. They are listed as follows:
Top five operating expenses per person
- Men’s Basketball, $32,051
- Women’s Basketball, $25,492
- Men’s Golf, $12,738
- Women’s Soccer, $9,689
- Women’s Softball, $9,012
Top five operating expenses per team
- Women’s Basketball, $611,810
- Men’s Basketball, $544,872
- Men’s Lacrosse, $298,417
- Women’s Soccer, $271,287
- Women’s Rowing, $202,510
The two significant changes in operating expenses from last year’s report are Men’s Basketball and Women’s Soccer. Basketball went down $18,060 per person (from $50,111) because the team took a trip to Italy in 2022. However, Women’s Soccer went up $4,338 per person (from $5,351) because they took a trip to Costa Rica during the 2023 season.
The next page details the total expenses and revenues for each sport. These totals include operating expenses plus student aid, coaching salaries, travel, promotional activities and supplies.
The five teams with the highest overall expenses are:
- Men’s Basketball, $3,120,320
- Women’s Basketball, $3,012,632
- Men’s Lacrosse, $1,749,782
- Men’s Rowing, $1,582,644
- Women’s Lacrosse, $1,378,449
Compared to the 2022-2023 EADA report, the total expenses by team have changed significantly. Men’s Basketball costs went down by $53 thousand, Women’s Basketball costs went up by $146 thousand, Men’s Lacrosse went up by $126 thousand, Men’s Rowing went up by $189 thousand and Women’s Lacrosse went up by $91 thousand.
The next biggest expense related to the athletes is student aid. The NCAA dictates how many scholarships each sport can give out to its athletes, and it is up to the individual university to determine how much each player receives. Student-athlete scholarships can be anything related to an athlete’s education, such as tuition, housing, meal plans and/or supplies. This aid can range from a few hundred dollars to a full-ride scholarship. Aid in this category is only counting scholarships given to student-athletes on the basis that they will participate on the collegiate team for Drexel.
The total amount of financial aid given to athletes was $11,954,166. This breaks down to $5,958,961 for the men’s teams and $5,995,205 for the women’s team. The overall percentage breakdown is 50 percent and 50 percent.
Drexel spent $237,588 on recruiting the next class of athletes. These expenses cover costs associated with “expenses for lodging, meals, telephone use, and transportation for recruits and personnel engaged in recruiting.”
Expenses that do not relate to a certain team or sport are categorized as not-allocated expenses. These expenses can include things like salaries for the athletic director, weight room trainers and staff members. Other expenses that fit in this category include NCAA and CAA fees and administration costs. Drexel reported that it spent $6,220,078 on not allocated expenses.
The last major cost for the athletic department are coaches’ salaries. On all teams, there are 18 head coaches and 38 assistant coaches. Minus benefits, the average salary for head coaches is $130,167 for men’s teams and $99,555 for women’s teams. The average salary for assistant coaches is $49,630 for men’s teams and $51,471 for women’s teams.
Individual salaries of coaches are not made public, but Drexel’s 2023 tax filings show that the head coach of the Men’s Basketball team, Zach Spiker, was the 11th highest-paid Drexel employee, making $460,221 last year.
Something Drexel does that is uncommon is spending equally on its men’s and women’s teams. While Title IX, bans sex-based discrimination in education, it still allows unequal spending in college athletics. According to the U.S. Department of Education, Title IX only means that colleges must “offer equivalent benefits, opportunities, and treatment to its men’s and women’s teams overall.”
This means that to comply with Title IX regulations, universities do not have to spend equally on men’s and women’s sports, but it is something Drexel attempts to do. From 2023-2024 Drexel spent $11,196,147 on its men’s team and $10,729,397 on its women’s teams. Compared to other Philadelphia-area colleges, Drexel spends much more equally on its men’s and women’s teams.
Despite the recent financial downturn, this most recent EADA report shows that Drexel is committed to continuing funding and promoting success for its hundreds of student-athletes.
A full analysis of last year’s EADA report can be found on The Triangle, and the full 2023-2024 report can be found on the Drexel Athletics website.