Athletic Department Revenue: Latest Scoreboard Has Oklahoma State 42nd

STILLWATER – The factors have all been outlined previously as Oklahoma State University only sponsors 16 varsity sports in the athletic department, eight men’s sports and eight women’s sports. All of them are NCAA sports with the exception of equestrian, which competes as an NCEA school. Oklahoma State recently finished as a lopsided winner 21-9 over the University of OKlahoma in the annual Bedlam Cup, the ninth time in the past 11 school years that OSU has been on top. Oklahoma State finished No. 19 in the 2023-24 Learfield Director’s Cup, which measures overall athletic department excellence. It is the fourth straight top 25 finish for OSU. Okay, what about bang for the buck?

The latest scoreboard for athletic department revenue is up and we apologize for being a little late on this but the figures always come this time of year and they are a year old. The fiscal year just ended, so the numbers out are college and university athletic department revenue for the 2022-23 school year. 

Pat Kinnison - Chief Photographer

Oklahoma State has again sold out Boone Pickens Stadium for this season for the second year in a row. 

Oklahoma State showed earnings of $121,003,194 to rank initially at No. 42 among the Division I FBS schools that are at the top. Later Oklahoma State was moved back to No. 43 as Maryland was a late reporter with roughly $157,000 more in earnings to move into No. 42. 

The top three revenue schools overall are Ohio State with $274,948,554, Texas with $232,323,521, and Michigan at $225,548,280. The top 15 schools are either from the Big Ten or the Southeastern Conference before Clemson and Florida State back-to-back at 16 and 17 come in. 

The University of Oklahoma despite their near billion dollar debt as a school does come in high at No. 7 with revenue of $198,975,224. That is why the University is in reverse of many smaller schools as they are taking money from the athletic department. 

Oklahoma State is in a solid position, but they need to continue to do everything to maximize and keep the football program in a very healthy state.

Here is a look at how Oklahoma State ranks in athletic revenue with it’s competition in the Big 12 Conference.

Baylor, BYU, and TCU are all private universities and are not subject to revealing their financial information like state universities are.

One estimate had Baylor’s athletic department revenue at $111,131,098. 

From June 2022 to June 2023, TCU spent $149.3 million on athletics, according to federal data. There was not a listed amount of revenue, but you would think it had to be close. 

The most recent number on athletic department revenue for BYU is from 2021. That was two years prior to BYU officially joining the Big 12. That year BYU earned $106.4 million in total revenue. It has no doubt gone up, but remember that BYU received an introductory amount of revenue from the Big 12 for the most recent school year.

Iowa State, Kansas State, Kansas, and Oklahoma State are currently the only schools in the Big 12 that have no student athletic fees or at least have fees under $100. Again, this information does not include Baylor, BYU, and TCU.