{
  "version": "3.0",
  "verifiedAsOf": "2026-10-03",
  "title": "ULM athletics spending in Sun Belt context",
  "recommendation": {
    "headline": "ULM spends $23.57M. The Sun Belt median is $46.10M.",
    "benchmarkLabel": "FY2025 \u00b7 Knight-Newhouse NCAA-based comparison",
    "mainCopy": "About half the conference median. Is the answer to spend more\u2014or choose where to compete?",
    "chartOption": "Show the attributed FY2025 Knight-Newhouse median with its matched ULM series; the visible rounded ULM total remains $23.57M. Offer selected NCAA-report peers underneath.",
    "guardrail": "Do not show ~$40M as a FY2025 NCAA median. The verified FY2024 Knight-Newhouse median was $39.06M. Do not compare EADA or BOR sport figures with NCAA totals as one accounting series."
  },
  "selectedPeers": [
    {
      "id": "ulm",
      "label": "ULM",
      "fiscalYear": 2025,
      "fiscalYearEnd": "2025-06-30",
      "basis": "NCAA MFRS total operating expenses",
      "expenses": 23570371,
      "unit": "USD",
      "classification": "FACT",
      "sourceId": "lla-2025-athletics"
    },
    {
      "id": "louisiana",
      "label": "Louisiana-Lafayette",
      "fiscalYear": 2025,
      "fiscalYearEnd": "2025-06-30",
      "basis": "NCAA MFRS total operating expenses",
      "expenses": 46393046,
      "unit": "USD",
      "classification": "FACT",
      "sourceId": "peer-ull-ncaa-fy2025"
    },
    {
      "id": "appstate",
      "label": "Appalachian State",
      "fiscalYear": 2025,
      "fiscalYearEnd": "2025-06-30",
      "basis": "NCAA MFRS total operating expenses",
      "expenses": 57271283,
      "unit": "USD",
      "classification": "FACT",
      "sourceId": "peer-appstate-ncaa-fy2025"
    }
  ],
  "selectedPeersCoverage": {
    "conference": "Sun Belt",
    "fiscalYear": 2025,
    "institutionsVerifiedDirectly": 3,
    "includesULM": true,
    "isCompleteConference": false,
    "isConferenceMedian": false,
    "note": "Selected peers, chosen because university/state-accountant primary NCAA reports are publicly available; not an independent survey of every conference member."
  },
  "benchmark": {
    "id": "sun-belt-fy2025",
    "fiscalYear": 2025,
    "basis": "Knight-Newhouse Total Athletic Expenses (public NCAA MFRS-based dataset; includes excess transfers back)",
    "unit": "USD",
    "label": "Sun Belt conference median",
    "median": 46099048,
    "classification": "DERIVED",
    "derivation": "Conference median as calculated and reported by Knight-Newhouse, not recomputed by this Site.",
    "sourceId": "peer-knight-newhouse-fy2025",
    "matchedULM": {
      "expenses": 23570365,
      "classification": "FACT",
      "sourceId": "peer-knight-newhouse-fy2025"
    },
    "ulmShare": 0.511298302732846,
    "ulmShareClassification": "DERIVED",
    "ulmShortfallFromMedian": 22528683,
    "shortfallClassification": "DERIVED",
    "ratioFormula": "23570365 / 46099048",
    "gapFormula": "46099048 - 23570365",
    "underlyingInstitutionCount": null,
    "countNote": "Exact aggregation n was not exposed in the statically retrieved profile/method text. Do not claim the Site independently recomputed a complete 14-school median."
  },
  "previousYearBenchmark": {
    "fiscalYear": 2024,
    "basis": "Knight-Newhouse Total Athletic Expenses, same dataset/current dollars",
    "median": 39055449,
    "matchedULM": 22726456,
    "classification": "DERIVED",
    "sourceId": "peer-knight-newhouse-fy2025",
    "note": "The approximately $40M number is appropriate to FY2024 only, paired with ULM $22.73M from that same series/year."
  },
  "derivedSelectedPeerComparisons": [
    {
      "peerId": "louisiana",
      "expensesAboveULM": 22822675,
      "peerToULMRatio": 1.9682781403822622,
      "classification": "DERIVED",
      "formula": "46393046 - 23570371; 46393046 / 23570371"
    },
    {
      "peerId": "appstate",
      "expensesAboveULM": 33700912,
      "peerToULMRatio": 2.429799810957579,
      "classification": "DERIVED",
      "formula": "57271283 - 23570371; 57271283 / 23570371"
    }
  ],
  "sourceVintageConflict": {
    "institution": "ULM",
    "fiscalYear": 2025,
    "llaStatementExpense": 23570371,
    "knightNewhouseExpense": 23570365,
    "difference": 6,
    "classification": "DERIVED",
    "handling": "Keep original source-specific numbers. Both round to $23.57M. Use matched Knight-Newhouse numerator for its median comparison; preserve LLA value for main budget, football model and accounting reconciliation."
  },
  "limitations": [
    "The conference median is an attributed original dataset result, not independently recomputed from all member financial filings in this research pass.",
    "NCAA reporting is a common framework, but institutional interpretations and treatment of affiliated entities can vary.",
    "Knight-Newhouse Total Athletic Expenses includes calculated excess transfers back, while the selected primary report rows use total operating expenses. Keep their metric labels visible.",
    "These are historical expenses in current dollars, not FY2026-27 budgets, NIL capacity, investment requirements, or a forecast of competitive outcomes.",
    "Peer spending does not establish that spending more will cause ULM to win, earn back the cost, or gain enrollment.",
    "Do not use the BOR ULM $20.558M figure or EADA figures as substitutes within this NCAA comparison."
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": "lla-2025-athletics",
      "title": "ULM FY2025 NCAA agreed-upon procedures report",
      "url": "https://app.lla.state.la.us/PublicReports.nsf/0/B5D38D32F7FBA68F86258D870068E178/$FILE/0000997AA.pdf#page=15",
      "type": "PRIMARY",
      "published": "2026-01-22",
      "retrieved": "2026-10-03",
      "note": "Statement A, PDF page 15 / printed page 12. Year ended June 30, 2025. Unaudited statement subject to agreed-upon procedures; not an audit opinion. Total operating expenses $23,570,371."
    },
    {
      "id": "peer-ull-ncaa-fy2025",
      "title": "Louisiana-Lafayette FY2025 NCAA agreed-upon procedures report",
      "url": "https://app.lla.la.gov/publicreports.nsf/0/e1e3535cb77a864186258d8d00632649/$file/00009a38.pdf#page=17",
      "type": "PRIMARY",
      "published": "2026-01-28",
      "retrieved": "2026-10-03",
      "note": "Statement A, PDF page 17 / printed page 13. Year ended June 30, 2025. Unaudited statement subject to agreed-upon procedures; not an audit opinion. Total operating expenses $46,393,046."
    },
    {
      "id": "peer-appstate-ncaa-fy2025",
      "title": "Appalachian State FY2025 NCAA Membership Financial Report",
      "url": "https://finops.appstate.edu/sites/default/files/fy25_ncaa_financial_report.pdf#page=16",
      "type": "PRIMARY",
      "published": "2025-12-23",
      "retrieved": "2026-10-03",
      "note": "University-published NCAA MFRS report; AUP report issuance date on page 1. Summary total operating expenses on PDF page 16, repeated by sport on page 75 and statement on page 93: $57,271,283. FY2025, Sun Belt affiliation stated on page 1."
    },
    {
      "id": "peer-knight-newhouse-fy2025",
      "title": "Knight-Newhouse College Athletics Database: ULM and Sun Belt comparison",
      "url": "https://www.knightnewhousedata.org/fbs/sun-belt/university-louisiana-monroe",
      "type": "PRIMARY_DATASET",
      "retrieved": "2026-10-03",
      "note": "Original compiled public-records dataset. Total Athletic Expenses table reports FY2025 ULM $23,570,365 and Sun Belt conference median $46,099,048; FY2024 ULM $22,726,456 and median $39,055,449. Current dollars. Six-dollar ULM discrepancy versus LLA retained explicitly."
    },
    {
      "id": "peer-knight-newhouse-method",
      "title": "Knight-Newhouse: About the Data",
      "url": "https://www.knightnewhousedata.org/about-the-data",
      "type": "PRIMARY",
      "retrieved": "2026-10-03",
      "note": "Financial data are collected from public NCAA MFRS reports, not EADA financial reports. Conference grouping follows each fiscal year. Total Athletic Expenses includes operating expenses plus calculated excess transfers to the institution. Reporting interpretations can differ across institutions."
    }
  ]
}