NCAA has net assets of $627 million, say records

The NCAA recorded a nearly $61 million surplus for its 2013 fiscal year, according to an audited financial statement the association released Thursday.

While the surplus is smaller than those the association had in each of its two previous years, this is third consecutive year in which the annual surplus has exceeded $60 million. This increased the NCAA's year-end net assets to more than $627 million, just less than double where they stood at the end of its 2007 fiscal year.

Among the NCAA's more than $589 million in unrestricted assets is an endowment fund that had grown to more than $326 million as of the end of its 2013 fiscal year, Aug. 31. The fund grew by more than $44 million in 2013, its greatest one-year increase since it was established in 2004.

The NCAA had nearly $913 million in total revenue in fiscal 2013, according to the statement. It had a little more than $852 million in total expenses, including a record $527.4 million distributed to Division I schools and conferences.

Of the NCAA's 2013 revenue, $681 million came from the multimedia and marketing rights agreement with CBS and Turner Broadcasting that primarily is connected to the Division I men's basketball tournament, the statement said.

In 2012, the NCAA had nearly $872 million in total revenue and nearly $801 million in total expenses, including $503.8 million distributed to Division I members.

The new financial statement – dated Dec. 4, 2013 – continued to include a statement of the NCAA's confidence in its ability to prevail in, or settle, various lawsuits without a major impact on its assets. The statement's notes about the NCAA's commitments and contingencies say, in part: "The NCAA and its legal counsel are defending against lawsuits and claims arising in the normal course of its day-to-day activities. The NCAA does not believe the ultimate resolution of these matters will result in material losses or have a material adverse effect on the consolidated financial position, change in net assets, or cash flows of the NCAA."

This is relatively routine language, but as of the statement's date, the NCAA was facing an a series of lawsuits pertaining to the use of college athletes' names and likenesses to concussions athletes suffered while playing college sports and to restrictions on the length and number of scholarships schools can offer.

Subsequent to the statement date, the NCAA has been named as a defendant in two lawsuits aimed specifically at the limits on compensation that athletes can receive in exchange for playing college sports.

In addition to the distribution to Division I members, the NCAA's 2013 expenses included:

--More than $122 million in association-wide programs, up from a little more than $115 million in 2012.

--Nearly $41.8 million in management and general spending, up from a little more than $38.3 million in 2012. That means management and general spending grew by 9% while the distribution to Division I members grew by 4.7%. In 2012 management and general spending grew by 7.3% over the 2011 level while distribution to Division I grew by 5%.

The endowment fund has been designated as a quasi-endowment, which means the money is intended to be retained and invested, but unlike a permanent endowment, its principal can be spent. It was established in 2004 by the NCAA Executive Committee, a group of college presidents that oversees association-wide matters, primarily to protect against an event that could impact what is overwhelmingly the NCAA's greatest revenue source: the Division I men's basketball tournament.

The fund began with $45 million, and the original goal for its growth was $500 million. The goal had been lowered to $380 million in recent years.

The fund has retained any investment earnings and been augmented with a portion of the NCAA's annual operating surpluses. In fiscal 2010, however, the NCAA began putting more of its annual operating surpluses toward supplemental distributions to the membership and less toward the quasi-endowment.