OU athletics had an approximately $43.7 million deficit in the 2025 fiscal year, having not received its full revenue share from the SEC.

On Friday, SoonerScoop obtained Oklahoma’s full financial report for the 2025 fiscal year, covering July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025. That’s important to note, as the numbers reflected below are from the 2024 football season.

OU athletics director Joe Castiglione also sent a letter to fans on Friday explaining why the Sooners had a $43.7 million deficit. As Castiglione explained in his letter, OU only received $12.5 million of the SEC’s revenue share due to it being the school’s first year in the conference. That is $47 million less than Oklahoma would have received and will receive in the future. Similarly, Texas reported a $23.3 million deficit due to the move to the SEC. Texas’s fiscal year begins in August and ends in July.

“The most significant factor contributing to the FY25 deficit was a one-time reduction in our conference distributions,” Castiglione said in his letter to fans. “Our decision to leave the Big 12 one year early required a short-term financial sacrifice in anticipation of higher revenues and long-term benefits that will follow as an SEC member. In FY25, OU received $12.5 million in conference distributions, which is $47 million less than our SEC full-share peers who received approximately $60 million each. Our early entry to the SEC was a strategic one, and one that we planned for years in advance. Thanks to decades of careful reserve building, we were able to cover it, and we expect our full SEC shares – beginning this year – will more than make up for the short-term gap.”

The Oklahoma athletic department totaled $205,670,266 in operating revenue and $249,408,268 in operating expenses in 2025. If OU had received the full conference revenue share, the Sooners would have had a $3.3 million surplus. Last year, fiscal year 2024, the athletic department had a $2.6 million surplus, which was the most since 2018.

As for contributions given to the athletic department, OU set a new school record with $92,923,040. That’s a $19 million increase from last year. Of that $92 million, $52,528,657 was given to football, which was a $9 million increase from 2024.

Football ticket sales also saw an increase for Oklahoma’s first season in the SEC. OU generated $47,939,683 in ticket sales for the 2024 football season. That’s a $7 million increase from the 2023 football season.

Below are some numbers to know from the 2025 fiscal report.

Numbers to know

Total revenue: $205,670,266

Total expenses: $249,408,268

Total contributions: $92,923,040 ($19 million increase)

Football recruiting expenses: $3,659,318

Football coaching salaries: $19,000,671

Football operating revenue: $125,489,578

Football operating expenses: $63,821.802

Football ticket sales: $47,939,683 ($7 million increase)

NIL distributed (all sports): $32,000,000