Lafayette Reporter

Lafayette Parish spent $12,908,059 on men's collegiate football teams in 2023, a decrease of 3.9% from the previous year, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

This translates to roughly 33.1% of all spending for sports teams at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, the only institution in the county during the 2023 season.

The average sports expenses at Lafayette Parish have grown 215.3% since 2010.

College football is one of the biggest sports in the U.S., with some college teams eclipsing NFL teams in terms of attendance and profit.

In 2022, after a decades-long fight, student athletes nationwide gained the right to profit from their names, likenesses, and images as a result of a flurry of new state laws and an NCAA policy change.

Year	Football Team's Expenditures	% from grand total sport team expenditures
2023	$12,908,059	33.1%
2022	$13,433,921	34.4%
2021	$11,414,434	36.4%
2020	$11,907,780	35.4%
2019	$11,050,193	32.7%