How did Ohio State spend its record revenue amount?
COLUMBUS — Ohio State football drove a record year of revenue for the athletic department in the 2023 fiscal year, and the extra funds helped pay down debt on facilities.
Per its NCAA-mandated annual financial report, OSU brought in $279.5 million in revenue for the 2022-23 period. The single-biggest diver of that revenue was ticket sales. While the 2021-22 period included $59.6 million in ticket sales across all sports, an eight-game 2022 football season brought in $64.3 million for that sport alone.
Overall ticket sales reached $73.3 million — the single-biggest revenue driver for the department. Total revenues increased by 11 percent over the 2022 fiscal year’s $251.6 million. That amount set the previous revenue record.
Revenue has increased more than $100 million since the coronavirus pandemic-affected 2021 fiscal year. In terms of normal operating years, revenue has increased by almost 20 percent since the 2020 fiscal year.
Total operating expenses for 2022-23 were $274.9 million. That included 45.3 million of athletic facilities debt. In a news release, the university said it made additional principal payments on construction loans for projects including the Schumacher Complex and Covelli Center, thereby reducing future payments.
Due to those additional debt payments, expenses increased by 21.8 percent over the 2022 fiscal year’s total of $225.7 million.
A closer look inside the report’s numbers:
■ OSU reported $57.8 million in revenue through contributions, an 8 percent year-over-year decrease. That includes revenue from a per-seat contribution model for the Buckeye Club. In an independent accounting report also required by NCAA bylaw, the university said the Buckeye Club plan exceeded its expected income by $2 million.
A field sponsorship gift resulted in another $2.3 million in income previously not budgeted. The university announced a multi-year naming rights deal for the field in Ohio Stadium with Safelite. That was an expansion of a previous sponsorship deal the company made for the field goal netting.
■ Media rights revenue totaled nearly $49.8 million — including $37.1 million from football alone. The represented only a $900,000 increase from FY 2022. The Big Ten’s most recent media rights deal — signed in August, 2022 — did not go into effect until July, 2023.
■ “Royalties, licensing, advertisements and sponsorships” accounted for another $42.8 million in revenue — a 32.5 percent increased from FY2022. The university said one reason for the jump was “increased royalties from ticket resales due to a higher quality home football schedule.”
■ Men’s basketball remained the second-highest source of revenue at $24.1 million, an increase of only $500,000. Women’s basketball revenues totaled $1.2 million.
■ Salaries and bonuses remained the department’s biggest expense, totaling $90.7 million. That included $21.8 million in football coaching salaries, benefits and bonuses and another $6.4 million for football-related support staff.
■ The department spent $23.8 million in athletic student aid (scholarships), a slight decrease from the previous year’s $24.5 million.
■ Ohio State spent $14.1 million ($2.1M for football), $10.1 million in game expenses ($5.1M football) and $3.8 million on recruiting ($1.6M football).