The Georgia High School Association’s state meets and playoffs have generated $18.3 million in gross revenue the past five academic years, up from $14 million from 2014-19.
Football and basketball have produced 60% of that revenue since 2021 — down from 80% in 2014-19 — as the GHSA’s other sports are demonstrating their increasing power to attract a paying crowd, according to AJC analysis of GHSA financial audits.
Football and basketball generated about the same gross revenue as they did the previous five-year period: around $7.5 million for football and $3.4 million for basketball. This decade marks the first time football has generated less than half (40.6%) of all GHSA postseason gross revenue.
The GHSA’s next-most lucrative playoff sports — baseball, soccer and wrestling — each brought in more than $1.2 million for their state tournaments and meets the past five years. Revenue from state wrestling meets has increased six times since 2014-19. Baseball playoff revenue has doubled. Soccer is up 67%.
Credit: Jason Getz/AJC
Credit: Jason Getz/AJC
Almost every other GHSA sport that sells tickets for state playoffs and championships made at least 60% more the past five years than it did in 2015-19. Tennis and track and field earned five times what they did. Lacrosse and cross country made about three times as much.
Game-day cheerleading, competitive dance, esports, flag football and slow-pitch softball have brought in a combined $773,000 in state-competition revenue since 2021. Those sports were either just getting started or did not exist before that.
GHSA executive director Tim Scott said the other sports are more competitive than they once were, making them more enticing to attend. He noted the trend of sports specialization, with more athletes training year-round in one sport to reach elite levels.
“Anytime the competition is really good, I think people want to see it,” Scott said.
State competitions are important to the GHSA’s bottom line because the association gets 12% of the gross revenue, but net profits are significantly lower than gross as the cost of staging state championships and meets is on the rise.
The GHSA has moved toward putting championships in nicer, and often more expensive, neutral facilities in recent years. Those have included Mercedes-Benz Stadium for football and flag football, and minor league parks for baseball.
The GHSA budgeted $3.5 million to stage state tournaments and meets this academic year and expected to earn $4.5 million.
Below is a look at what each GHSA sports has earned in state playoffs and competitions the past five completed academic years compared with the academic years from 2014-15 through 2018-19.
The 2019-20 academic year was not included because the COVID-19 pandemic forced the GHSA to cancel spring sports that year. The sports of bass fishing, golf and riflery do not charge admission for state events and show no revenue.
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