Virginia Tech board approves additional $229M for athletics
BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) — In a move designed to help Virginia Tech compete with the top schools in the Atlantic Coast Conference, the university’s Board of Visitors voted 13-1 Tuesday to increase the athletics department operating budget, adding $229.2 million over the next four years through revenue and expenditure adjustments.
The four-year plan includes an additional $47.1 million added to the operating budget for 2026 and then increases of $61 million, $60.6 million and $60.5 million through 2029. The bump for 2026 moves the athletics department budget to $190.1 million, placing it among the top third in the ACC.
“I do believe, and I think there’s a lot of evidence that success in athletics at Virginia Tech creates indelible shared experiences for our students and alumni, and it’s critical for the regional economy,” Virginia Tech President Tim Sands said in a statement. “It’s a driver for positive feedback between national recognition, increased student demand and the resources needed to enhance institutional impact in teaching, learning, discovery and engagement ... Today’s resolution unlocks the door to future success at the national level.”
No details were given on how the money would be allocated, though university officials clearly want to invest in the football program.
Sands announced the firing of football coach Brent Pry on Sept. 14, one day after a blowout home-opening loss to Old Dominion that dropped them to 0-3. Pry was 16-24 in four seasons, and the football program has registered only four winning seasons and dismissed two coaches in the nine seasons since Frank Beamer retired as coach in 2015 following 29 years at the helm.
In the release announcing Pry’s firing, Sands said Board of Visitors rector John Rocovich had tasked board members J. Pearson and Ryan McCarthy “to work with university leadership and AD Whit Babcock to develop a financial, organizational and leadership plan that positions the Virginia Tech football program to be competitive with the best in the ACC.”
The financial part of that plan, unveiled Tuesday, called for philanthropy to cover $120 million of the budget increase. Also, the plan calls for $48.3 million from institutional support and $39.6 million through bridge funding. In addition, the university is going to increase student fees $100 per year to account for the remaining $21.3 million.
Sands did say that he was appointing an athletics investment oversight committee as an advisory body to himself and the Board of Visitors.
“We also recognize that this strategic decision to invest discretionary resources in athletics now may limit our flexibility in the near future, and we will be closely monitoring this investment to ensure that funds are spent wisely,” he said.
The Board of Visitors did not publicly reveal a future organizational and leadership model for the athletics department. Babcock hinted last week that a general manager to oversee the football program may be hired first and that he expected to see a modernized structure for the department, “more in line with professional football-type organizational structure on the football side, and from an athletic department standpoint, a structure and organization more in line with a corporate business.”
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