Wake Forest Athletics Are In a Competitive Financial Position: John Currie

Wake Forest athletics director John Currie stated on Friday that the university's athletic department is in a competitive financial position. During a media session before their game against Miami, Currie discussed various topics including the development of a multi-use facility on campus and the current state of college sports. The Protect College Sports Act and financial status of Wake Forest athletics were among the most discussed subjects by the media.

Questions about how much of the revenue-sharing money allocated by the House v. NCAA settlement (amounting to roughly $21.5 million per school for the 2026-27 academic year) Wake Forest spends on its programs got significant attention. Early in the summer, football coach Jake Dickert claimed that the school was in the bottom third of ACC spending on football. However, ESPN later refuted this claim, stating that their sources suggested Wake Forest was in the top half of the conference in spending for athletics.

A recent study by The Athletic, which took months to research, placed Wake Forest in the bottom third of ACC spending and other conferences nationwide. Currie was unable to disclose specific spending figures but expressed confidence in the department's spending levels. He acknowledged that the figures used in the article might have been slightly inflated or deflated, but he remains optimistic about the overall financial situation.

Wake Forest's athletic department has been a strong supporter of the Protect College Sports Act, and Currie remains hopeful for its passage. The bill's chances of reaching a full Senate vote this week are promising, but its potential impact on the ACC, such as requiring schools to be independent for three years before joining another conference, remains uncertain. Currie emphasized that the current system of unlimited outside spending on revenue-sharing is unsustainable.