Michigan football spent more than $348,000 on trip to IMG Academy in Bradenton

Michigan’s spring break trip to practice at IMG Academy in Bradenton cost $348,553, according to the school’s expense summary released Friday following a public-records request.

Facility rentals, housing and meals totaled $146,912. The airfare, which Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh tried to keep reasonable by flying commercial and having some staffers drive, totaled $107,148. Ground transportation was $51,395, and meals/per diem outside of IMG were $39,519.

The “other” category came out to $3,580.

Michigan practiced four days in Florida -- Feb. 29-March 1 and March 3-4 -- with March 2 as an off day. The first three days of practice lasted six hours total, but only four hours for the players, who had two hours of instruction with their group either at the beginning or the end, plus two in the middle, when the entire team overlapped.

The final day of practice, March 4, was open to the public. Per NCAA rules, prospective recruits -- who fill the IMG roster -- were not allowed to attend the earlier practices, but they could watch Michigan on the public day.

Soon after the trip was announced in February, U-M tight end Jake Butt tweeted that he was excited to spend spring break there -- a comment repeated by many Wolverines when in Florida.

This story was originally published May 27, 2016 at 10:08 PM with the headline "Michigan football spent more than $348,000 on trip to IMG Academy in Bradenton."