Due to the pending House vs. NCAA settlement, more scholarships will be available to Texas athletes in the future. But that will come at a cost.
Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte announced at his annual town hall that the UT athletic department plans on adding nearly 200 scholarships. Texas currently has 266.2 scholarships allocated for its 19 sports, but that number will now increase to 466, if Del Conte’s plan comes to fruition.
According to a slide that Del Conte presented at the Town Hall, here are the number of scholarships that Texas plans on offering in each sport:
Del Conte estimated this increase in scholarships will annually cost UT $9.2 million. Del Conte also shared that the university plans on sharing its publicity rights with its athletes and that’s another $20.5 million that will be added to the budget.
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So that leaves the question… how will Texas pay for everything?
Del Conte said he has a three-year plan, but he shared some ways that Texas will cut costs. Del Conte believes that new revenue will annually bring in $13 million, and that $6 million can be saved by “budget reductions and staff efficiencies.” Season tickets for football will also be raised by $80.
When pressed on why Texas was adding so many scholarships, Del Conte justified the decision by saying that Texas is simply in an arms race. Texas doesn’t have to offer that many scholarships, but Del Conte assured the town hall attendees that other schools will.
“This is the University of Texas,” Del Conte said. “We’re good at everything. We are going to fully fund every single one of our sports with the highest division.”
One avenue that won’t be used to raise money? Del Conte said that Texas doesn’t plan on selling space on its jerseys and fields for corporate sponsorship. Del Conte said he understands why some schools might entertain this idea, but “there’s some sanctity” with the Texas brand.
“If we do what our plan is going to do, we don’t need to do anything (except having) Texas on our jersey with a Nike swoosh and an SEC patch. That’s all we have to do,” Del Conte said.
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