(The Center Square) – Wisconsin lawmakers have touted the economic impact of University of Wisconsin football and athletics as a reason to support a name, image and likeness bill that includes $15 million in taxpayer funds given annually toward athletics facilities and a sweeping public records exemption that applies to all spending and revenue for the athletic department.
The NIL bill could reach the Senate floor as soon as Tuesday.
That report, produced in 2022 by ESI Econsult Solutions, claimed that each UW-Madison football game brings $19 million of economic impact to Dane County. Rather than being an independent analysis of impact of the program, the report was a consultant report paid for by the university for use in public policy discussions on funding.
Economists point out that these reports don’t follow basic economic tenets such as accounting for the crowding out effect for visitors who would normally visit Madison on a fall Friday but did not due to hotel prices or availability and displaced spending in a municipality, region or state from those who would have otherwise spent disposable income at other businesses in an area.
Economist J.C. Bradbury of Georgia’s Kennesaw State University previously told The Center Square that there is a “cottage industry” of consultants who produce these reports for sports franchises to receive taxpayer incentives.
“These are totally fake and they mean nothing but they are required to provide some sort of guidance, even though they don’t,” Bradbury said.
A report from UW-Madison’s Crowe Center for Research on the Wisconsin Economy from late last year said that Badger football’s declining performance could lead to a $20 million reduction in annual revenue for the athletic department.
“Wider economic fallout includes an estimated $160 million annual loss in Madison and $280 million statewide, stemming from reduced attendance, game-day spending, tourism, and reputational value,” the report said.
The Badgers were 4-8 overall and 2-7 in the Big Ten Conference in 2025.
UW-Madison athletics operated with a $4.3 million surplus in its most recent annual NCAA financial report covering the financial year that ended in June 2025.
Athletic department officials told the Assembly Committee on State Affairs on Wednesday that football is responsible for 80% of the athletic department’s revenue. That was $113.6 million last fiscal year, according to the NCAA report, which showed the football program brought in $72 million in excess during the year.
