As the Alabama’s athletic department sustains solid profitability, it’s driving force doles out more every year to insure success.
Last 4 years. Click to enlarge.
Recruiting expenses for the Crimson Tide football program jumped again in 2011 to total $980,882, according to documents the school filed with the NCAA. That wasn’t a major bump from the $870,438 it spent in 2010, but it’s 2.7 times higher than the $360,327 it spent in 2008.
The expense represents only 3 percent of the total spent by the program, but its increase offers insight into the importance placed on drawing top athletes.
The $980,882 pays for transportation, lodging and meals for recruits and families during official and unofficial visits to campus. It also went to phone calls and postage for recruiting purposes.
It also paid for use of university vehicles and planes for in-home visits. I wrote about the dizzying schedule for N1UA — the school plane — for recruiting in 2010. Click here for the refresher.
And the investment has paid off.
Three of the last four Alabama’s recruiting classes topped at least one of the national rankings. Oh, and those prospects helped the Tide win two BCS national titles in three years.
For the sake of comparison, Auburn spent $678,936 on football recruiting in 2010 compared to $530,537 in 2008.
[twitter-follow screen_name='DailyBamaBlog' show_count='yes']
Also find and follow The Daily Bama Blog on:
Facebook: Facebook.com/dailybamablog
YouTube: /michaelcasagrande
NEW: Google+: Alabama football circle
Also see: River City Rumblings prep blog
