John Perrin retired as Arizona athletics department's chief financial officer 12 years ago with perhaps the most remarkable record in UA sports history: He had a 33-year streak of balancing the budget — making a profit! — from 1981-2014.
"I was the guy who would tell the athletic director when to hit the brakes," Perrin told me upon his retirement. "We hit the brakes a lot."
Since Perrin's departure, Arizona rarely hit the brakes. It built a budget deficit in excess of $40 million, never balancing the books. When I asked Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte — previously the No. 2 man in the Arizona athletic department — about Perrin's streak, he said "He is the gold standard of finance in college sports."
How times have changed. In Perrin's final season as UA's CFO, the school's athletic budget was $68. Today it is close to $140 million, according to the government's database.
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I bring this to your attention because third-year Arizona Athletic Director Desireé Reed-Francois last week announced that not only did the athletic department balance the budget this year, but that it set a record by raising $46 million from donors (breaking the previous record of $41 million in 2022) but that it also raised $87.7 million in corporate sponsorships. The UA received 10 gifts of $1 million or more from donors.
Alkeme chief executive officer Curtis Barton, left, and UA athletic director Desireé Reed-Francois hold a press conference for the renaming of McKale Center, Feb. 13, 2026. McKale Center is now McKale Center at Alkeme Arena.
How did this happen so quickly under Reed-Francois' watch?
A good insight would be to look at the athletic department's staff directory. The UA is currently advertising for a financial analysis manager II, which doesn't often turn heads. But here's the roster of those that the UA's new financial analyst will join in the athletic department's business office when hired:
– CFO, Will Wheeler, hired in 2024 from Missouri
– Budget and finance director, Martha Perez-Schmitz, hired in 2025 from the Atlantic 10 Conference
– Financial reporting and analysis director, Monroe Donnelly, hired in 2025 from Florida State
– Financial analyst III, Ajana Lee, a CPA hired from the UA main campus
– Financial analyst III, Josh Lockhart, hired in 2025 from Rutgers
– Financial analyst II, Gigi Ebert, hired in 2025 from Florida State
– Financial analyst I, Heather Frushour, hired in 2022
– Financial analyst, Raegan Beightol
– Financial analyst, Jason Goldblum
What an evolution. In Perrin's days, the business office was often two or three people. That's how much college sports have changed. Reed-Francois deserves a ton of credit for being the right person at the right time to clean up the financial mess of previous administrations.
According to Equity in Athletics, the UA created $132.6 million in revenues in the 2024-25 fiscal year, offsetting such things as $37.8 million in football expenses and $22.6 million in expenses for men's basketball. These figures are fleeting. I mean, last year Arizona spent $8.8 million on head coaches for its men's sports. That figure will balloon this year since Tommy Lloyd's $37 million, five-year contract was approved this spring.
No wonder the business office staff is 10-deep. Money management is the No. 1 component of college athletics.
One positive item is that Arizona finished second in the Big 12 in total attendance for 2025-26 in the five major sports: football, men's basketball, women's basketball, softball and baseball. Here's the list:
1. Texas Tech, 897,700
2. Arizona, 793,774
3. Iowa State, 787,599
4. BYU, 757,133
5. Arizona State, 732,407
None of the top five have more room to grow than Arizona. The Wildcats drew just 296,961 for home football games last year. By comparison, Texas Tech drew 421,603. If nothing else, Arizona has the most space to add to its revenues than any of the other top five in total attendance, especially since Arizona was a bottom feeder in baseball and women's basketball this season.
