Penn State Sports Took In More Than $100 Million In First Year After Jerry Sandusky Scandal

APWhen the Jerry Sandusky scandal broke in 2011, many wondered if the athletic program at Penn State would survive. A closer look at revenues shows that the athletic program is doing just fine.

Data collected by USA Today shows that the Penn State athletic department had $108.3 million in revenues in 2012. That is down 6.8% from the year before ($116.1 million) but is still among the top ten in all of college sports.

Much of the consistency is due to licensing ($36.9 million) which was already in place prior to the scandal, and ticket sales ($34.7 million) which shows the students and fans continued to support the programs. Both of those numbers were relatively unchanged in 2012.

Almost all of the $7.9 million drop in revenues can be accounted for by the drop in outside contributions, which fell from $34.3 million in 2011 to $25.5 million in 2012. As the school begins to distance itself from the scandal, that number will likely rise.

Penn State also claims that much of the drop in contributions was due to a large number of one-time club seat and suite renewals in 2011 that was not seen in 2012.

In the end, it does not appear that there has been any significant financial impact on the university as a result of the Sandusky scandal. And Penn State will continue to be a force in college athletics.