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AKRON IS PRODUCING OUTSIZED RESULTS ON A TINY BUDGET
• University of Akron spent $33.8M on athletics in 2025-26, the smallest budget in the MAC and second-lowest among public FBS schools.
• Despite that, Akron had arguably its best athletic year ever: seven conference championships, men’s basketball went 29-6, won the MAC Tournament and reached the NCAA Tournament, and the department finished 104th nationally in the Learfield Directors’ Cup.
• Huron ranked Akron No. 9 among public FBS schools for athletic value/efficiency.
FINANCIAL CHALLENGE
Akron faces about a $700K budget hit in 2026-27: $500K less in institutional support plus roughly $200K in employee-raise costs. University funding makes up nearly two-thirds of athletics revenue, making new revenue especially important.
FUNDRAISING IS IMPROVING
• Athletic cash contributions increased 109%, from $1.7M to $3.6M, just $129K short of Akron’s single-year record.
• The ACE NIL Fund raised more than $664K in its first year.
• Akron also balanced its budget.
SPONSORSHIPS AND NAMING RIGHTS ARE A MAJOR OPPORTUNITY
AD Andrew Goodrich is actively pursuing football jersey-patch sponsors, along with naming-rights deals for James A. Rhodes Arena and the soccer stadium.
The InfoCision Stadium naming-rights agreement expires in 2028 and currently pays $500K annually. Goodrich wants to replace it with a deal worth roughly $1M per year.
Akron is pitching potential sponsors on its reach, including 2.5M unique football viewers, 880K unique basketball viewers during March Madness, and its social-media audience.
ATTENDANCE REMAINS THE WEAKNESS
Football attendance averaged 7,729 per game, up 21%, but still last in the MAC and second-lowest in FBS. Goodrich wants to sell out at least one game, pointing out that more than 3M people live within 45 minutes of campus.
GOODRICH’S VISION
Hired in 2025, Goodrich wants Akron to become the “pound-for-pound best athletics department in America.” After just one year, Akron has already reached the top 10 nationally in athletic efficiency, giving him some evidence that the ambitious vision may be achievable.