Alabama football continues to be the main financial driver of the school's athletics department, responsible for approximately 62 percent of the total revenue in 2017.
AL.com's Michael Casagrande has the latest financial numbers, obtained via the budget documents filed annually with the NCAA through an open records request. The athletics department reported $174.3 million in revenue in 2017 and $15.6 million in profit, with the football department accounting for $108.2 million in revenue and $45.9 million in profit.
Across the entire department, revenue was up by "slightly more than $10 million" and profit was down $3.1 million.
Like many schools, the primary source of athletics department revenue is TV contracts and other associated media rights. In 2017, Alabama reported $43.9 million in such revenues, which exceeded contributions ($32.9 million) by more than $10 million.
