Ohio State’s athletic department spent nearly $38 million more than it made during the 2024 fiscal year.
Ohio State brought in $254,933,664 in athletics revenue during FY24, which ran from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024, but had athletics expenses of $292,670,315 during the year, per Ohio State’s official financial report to the NCAA which was released to the public on Monday.
Ohio State’s athletics revenue dropped by nearly $25 million from FY23, which is partially attributable to Ohio State playing only six home football games during the 2023 season after playing eight home games in 2022. The 2024 fiscal year does not include revenues for Ohio State’s 2024 football season, in which the Buckeyes hosted eight regular-season home games as well as a first-round College Football Playoff game.
Ohio State’s expenses also included $9,205,112 in severance payments and benefits to past coaching and administrative personnel, expenses that were increased due to Ohio State’s firing of former men’s basketball coach Chris Holtmann last February.
Per a news release by Ohio State, “the athletics department’s past earnings, reserve funds and anticipated future earnings are projected to cover the $37,736,651 shortfall that was expected in FY 2024.” Revenue increases are expected in the 2025 fiscal year from Ohio State hosting more home football games and the Buckeyes’ College Football Playoff run as well as the Big Ten’s media rights contract.
“In this new era of rapid transformation in intercollegiate athletics, our commitment to our student-athletes is unwavering,” athletic director Ross Bjork, who officially became athletic director in July following Gene Smith’s retirement, said in a statement. “We remain dedicated to supporting them in the classroom, in the training room and on the field of play as they compete for and win national, conference and individual event championships. While last year’s budget impact is not ideal and there were unique circumstances at play, we have a robust expense and revenue plan that has been implemented and have made great progress in this ever-changing landscape of college athletics. We will make sure we operate with a balanced budget moving forward.”
Ohio State’s football ($111,646,810 in revenue vs. $78,586,384 in expenses) and men’s basketball ($24,764,064 in revenue vs. $22,957,649 in expenses) were the only OSU sports teams to generate a profit during the 2024 fiscal year. Despite that, Bjork and president Ted Carter have repeatedly committed to keeping all 36 of Ohio State’s varsity sports.
Following the Ohio State football team’s national championship celebration on Sunday, Bjork said the Buckeyes expect to have a $300 million budget next year as Ohio State prepares to take on the additional expenses of sharing revenues with athletes. But he’s confident the athletic department has the proper structure in place to remain self-sufficient with those expenses.
“You've got to have resources. You've got to have fans. You've got to have alignment.
You've got to have character and culture and chemistry within your building. You've got to have the right coach, the right pieces around it. Everybody has to be on the same page,” Bjork said while talking about the Ohio State football team’s success. “Yeah, we have a big budget. We have a $300 million athletic department budget next year. I think the first time anybody's achieved that. But again, the structure pieces and the culture pieces have to be in place. Otherwise, those things don't work.”
