Boise State operated in the black in 2020 — just barely; men’s basketball adds recruit

The Boise State athletic department generated almost $52 million during the 2020 fiscal year, but it would be operating at a deficit for the first time since 2016 if not for more than $500,000 in revenue carried over from sports camps held in previous years.

The department brought in $51,881,766 between June 30, 2019, and June 30, 2020, but it spent $52,366,599, leaving a deficit of $484,793, according to the annual athletic department revenue report Boise State submits to the NCAA and State Board of Education.

Boise State carried $526,728 over from previous camps, though, which left the department in the black by $41,935.

The Broncos brought in more than the $50,599,483 they generated in FY 2019, which ranked No. 65 in the country, according to USA Today’s NCAA revenue database, which hasn’t been updated with 2020 revenues.

Football ($4,832,080) and men’s basketball ($1,691,665) remain the only programs not operating at a deficit.

The football program continued its trend of generating about half of the department’s annual revenue after bringing in $24,801,525. The team earned $5,149,923 in ticket sales, down from $5,662,146 in 2019. It also generated $6,484,981 in contributions, $2,303,895 in media rights deals and $5,343,045 from royalties, licensing agreements and sponsorship.

The football team’s share of the annual distribution from the Mountain West was $1,941,211, and it got $310,313 from the NCAA, which is less than half of the $652,051 it received the previous fiscal year. The team’s expenses in FY 2020 totaled $20,233,071.

Men’s basketball generated $5,198,197, with $1,356,875 coming from ticket sales, $607,058 from media rights, $297,383 from the NCAA and $56,942 from the conference. Its expenses were $3,531,303.

In FY 2019, men’s basketball got $597,641 from the NCAA, but the NCAA Tournament games the Broncos were supposed to host in March 2020 were canceled because of COVID-19.

The revenue report for the 2021 fiscal year could look drastically different for both programs because of the coronavirus pandemic. The football team allowed fans to attend two games last fall, and even then it was only about 1,100 of them. The mean’s and women’s basketball teams also spent most of this past season playing in front of cardboard cutouts.

The football team will also be without a bowl payout after players voted in December to skip the postseason, but that may work out in Boise State’s favor. The Broncos’ appearance in the 2019 Las Vegas Bowl generated $523,442, but between the trip and bonuses earned by coaches, it cost the department $669,071.

The University of Idaho reported a $1,916,872 athletics deficit for fiscal 2020. Idaho State reported a $913,171 deficit.

Basketball adds recruit

The Boise State men’s basketball team added a third recruit to its 2021 class on Tuesday when 6-foot-5 guard Kobe Young announced his verbal commitment on Twitter.

Young played basketball and football at Chiawana High in Washington, where he was named second-team Mid-Columbia Conference as a defensive lineman and wide receiver this spring.

He had the option to play college football.

Young is a three-star recruit as a wide receiver and has football offers from Army and Central Washington, according to 247Sports. He didn’t waste any time deciding to give college basketball a try, though. The 195-pound native of Pasco tweeted about the Broncos extending an offer on Sunday.

Young also had scholarship offers from the basketball programs at UC San Diego and Idaho State. He joins fellow Washington native Tyson Degenhart, who is a 6-8 forward, and three-star recruit RJ Keene in the Broncos’ 2021 class.