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Holland Reporter

Saturday, October 18, 2025

Ottawa County's universities spent $4,749,113 on football teams in 2024

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Matthew “Matt” A. Scogin President at Hope College | Hope College

Matthew “Matt” A. Scogin President at Hope College | Hope College

Ottawa County's two colleges invested $4,749,113 on their football teams in 2024, a 21%% increase in funding from the previous year, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

This represents 16.2% of all money invested on sport teams at the two colleges in the county during 2024.

The average sports expenses at Ottawa County have grown 141.6% since 2010.

Grand Valley State University stood out as the university in Ottawa County which received the most football funding during 2024. The institution received $4,065,387 ��� or 85.6% of all the money destined to football teams.

College football is one of the biggest sports in the U.S., with some college teams eclipsing NFL teams in terms of attendance and profit.

College athletes can now be paid directly by schools after a settlement approved in early July, which also requires the NCAA to pay $2.8 billion in back damages over 10 years to athletes who played from 2016 to the present. 

In 2022, after years of legal and legislative pressure, athletes also gained the right to profit from their names, images and likenesses through state laws and an NCAA policy change.

Football Team's Expenditures in Ottawa County in Last 5 Years
YearFootball Team's Expenditures% from grand total sport team expenditures
2024$4,749,11316.2%
2023$3,923,64517.1%
2022$3,560,27017%
2021$00%
2020$3,326,58517.9%

Information in this story was obtained from the U.S. Department of Education. The source data can be found here.

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