Winning Comes at a Price: Texas and Ohio State Report Record Expenses

As college football becomes more like a professional sport, expenses are starting to rise for schools with some of the country’s top programs.

During the 2023–2024 fiscal year, operating expenses were $325 million for Texas athletics and $292.3 million for Ohio State, according to USA Today. Those are the two largest operating expenses ever reported.

The Longhorns also brought in $331.9 million in operating revenues, marking the first time that a Division I public school has reported more than $300 million in both revenues and expenses in the same year. 

Ohio State’s revenue generation fell short, leading to an operating deficit of $37.7 million. That’s at least partially a result of a $14.6 million decline in ticket revenue that resulted from only six home football games in 2023 (compared to eight in the 2022 season) and from $8.5 million in severance costs connected to the school’s firing of men’s basketball coach Chris Holtmann in February 2024, per USA Today.

Numbers Games

Ohio State beat Texas in this year’s College Football Playoff semifinals en route to the Buckeyes’ second CFP national championship. 

Last season, in which the operating expenses and revenue above were recorded, Texas reached the four-team CFP after winning the Big 12 (its last season in the conference), while Ohio State finished the regular season ranked No. 7.

Texas joined the expanded, 16-team SEC last summer, while the Big Ten grew to 18 teams.