The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign athletic director says his department was operating at about a $6.2 million deficit in 2016, with both revenue and spending numbers ranking in the bottom half of the Big Ten.
Josh Whitman delivered a presentation to the university's Senate Executive Committee where he provided an overview of the athletic department as a whole.
Whitman addressed various topics including generating more revenue, more state pride in the program, competing in the upper division of the Big Ten, scrutiny on athletes and the lack of a university mascot.
He says Illinois generated $91.6 million in revenue in 2016 while spending $97.8 million. In the Big Ten that year, 14 other departments generated an average of $113 million while spending $109 million.
