AHSAA revenue plan a home run
The Alabama High School Athletic Association’s recent $1.2 million revenue sharing plan won’t significantly ease the financial burdens faced by member schools, but it sure won’t hurt, either.
Any money right now is good money, especially as the state again faces the prospect of proration.
Approved by the Central Board of Control this summer, checks were sent to member schools as part of a revenue sharing plan that has been developed over the past 30 years.
The profit sharing plan is based on classification of each school. The differential is roughly two percent per classification.
The 64 football-playing schools in Class 6A received $3,600 payouts, while checks for $3,400 were sent to schools in Class 5A.
While the plan is new, the AHSAA has used a version of revenue sharing for the past 18 years where the Central Board was able to waive all school dues each year.
But that plan distributed approximately $70,000 per year, much smaller than the current revenue sharing payout.
The money given this year was accumulated from a $1 extra charge that was initially added to playoff ticket prices to pay for the AHSAA’s new facility in Montgomery.
But when the building was paid off in just over three years, the extra ticket surcharge was kept. And that money goes directly back to the schools.
“We’re very, very proud to be able to institute the revenue sharing program,” said AHSAA executive director Steve Savarese earlier this summer at a statewide media gathering.
The difference in payout was based on the fact that larger schools pay a lot more into the AHSAA coffers than do the smaller schools. But AHSAA officials wanted to make sure the plan wasn’t just providing to the large schools each year.
The revenue sharing plan was first proposed two years ago by Savarese with the stipulation that the AHSAA have a year of operating reserves to fund the payout.
And through tough economic times, the plan continues to thrive. It’s a business model that will continue to pay big dividends for AHSAA member schools.
Sports editor Todd Thompson can be reached at 773-6566 or at todd.thompson@hartselleenquirer.com
