North Central Arkansas News

Independence County's institution invested $778,773 on their football teams in 2023, a 58.8% decrease in funding from the previous year, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

This represents 19.1% of all money invested on sport teams at Lyon College during 2023.

The average sports expenses at Independence County have grown 22.7% since 2010.

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.

In 2022, after a decades-long fight, student athletes nationwide gained the right to profit from their names, likenesses, and images as a result of a flurry of new state laws and an NCAA policy change.

Year	Football Team's Expenditures	% from grand total sport team expenditures
2023	$778,773	19.1%
2022	$1,891,965	27.4%
2021	$1,378,088	22.5%
2020	$2,262,149	29.7%
2019	$2,653,293	26.2%