About American Athletic Conference
The American Athletic Conference directs almost all of its grant dollars to support Division I collegiate athletic programs at member institutions, typically funding athletics departments, capital projects, and student‑athlete program needs. Grants are large and targeted, generally paid to conference member universities (and the U.S. Naval Academy) and recurring across the same institutions. The foundation functions as a centralized funder of conference athletics rather than a general education or community grantmaker.
Focus Areas
Direct funding for Division I athletics programs at AAC member universitiesAthletic facility construction, renovation, and capital projects for member schoolsOperational support for conference sports programs and student‑athlete servicesConference‑level investment in competitive athletics and program sustainability
Who They Fund
athletesschool-based sports teamscommunity sports teams/participants
Giving Approach
Highly concentrated, high-dollar giving to a small set of repeat beneficiaries (each top recipient received multiple large grants); funds are earmarked for athletics and capital/operational needs rather than broad community causes.
About American Athletic Conference
American Athletic Conference directs nearly all of its grant dollars to Division I athletics at member institutions, with funding that is large, recurring, and tied to conference sports operations. The single largest recent award in the list was $12,298,435 to Tulane University in 2024 for athletic program support, and the conference also made another eight-figure grant to the University of Cincinnati in 2023. That pattern points to a funder that operates through substantial institutional transfers rather than broad, open-ended philanthropy. The grant record shows a steady emphasis on athletic program funding across member campuses, including universities in New Orleans, Cincinnati, Orlando, Memphis, Dallas, and Houston. Awards are also made to the United States Naval Academy, which appears twice in the recent grants list, and to Wichita State University. The foundation’s giving is structured around conference membership and student-athlete program needs, with support used for athletic departments, capital projects, and program continuity. In practice, that makes American Athletic Conference a centralized athletics funder whose grants are closely aligned with conference participation and program maintenance.
What American Athletic Conference Funds
Athletic program support is the clearest throughline in the recent grants list. The conference gave $9,533,789 to the University of Central Florida in 2024 for athletic program funding, and another $8,804,489 to the University of Houston for the same purpose. Capital and facility support also appears in the broader funding pattern described for the conference, where grants are used for athletic facility construction and renovation as well as other capital projects at member schools. The grant record includes support for institutions outside the core league footprint in the data, such as $6,701,191 to the United States Naval Academy in 2024 and $2,410,158 to Wichita State University in 2024, both labeled for athletic program funding. Those awards show that the conference’s funding is organized around conference athletics and student-athlete program needs rather than unrelated community programming.
How American Athletic Conference Gives
Typical grant size is high and tightly clustered: the p25 is $7,738,040, the median is $8,291,462, and the p75 is $8,930,299. The recent list also shows repeated awards to the same institutions across 2023 and 2024, which indicates recurring support rather than one-off gifts. As a Pure DAF Provider, the American Athletic Conference gives through a centralized structure, and the awards in the file are programmatic rather than individual or investment-based. No application process is shown in the data.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$100.1M
Total Assets
$106.5M
Total Revenue
$123.4M
Total Expenses
$121.4M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $7.7M and $8.9M, with a median of $8.3M.
25th Percentile
$7.7M
Median
$8.3M
75th Percentile
$8.9M
Geographic Reach
Regional10 states funded
About 17% of grants go to recipients in TN.
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
Leadership
STACY MARTIN
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